The Maze Hopper
by AWakeingDream
Summary: After getting herself intentionally locked in the maze overnight, the Gladers figure out that there's nothing that their newest Greenbean won't do, nothing that "he's" afraid of. But Hopper's life in the Maze proves to cause challenges for everyone as she challenges the Creators.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Arrival**

It seems like an endless wait as the elevator lifts me up to the Glade, the sound of metal against metal ringing through my ears the entire time, hurting them even though they're covered by my hands. I always cover my ears with my hands when there's too much noise, even though usually by the time the noises bother me, it's too late to protect my sensitive hearing from them.

The motion finally stops, and there's one last ear-piercing sound of metal scraping against metal. It rings harshly in my ears, piercing straight through what little protection my hands provide. The doors of the Box are opening, and several boys heads are peeking over the edge, looking down at me. Finally, the noise stops, the doors are open, and there's just the familiar sounds people. And sounds I've missed; nature.

I slowly lower my hands from my ears. The boys are still being loud, but it's a loud that I can handle. At least, until one of them yells, "Quiet, shanks, you're scaring him!" My hands fly up to my ears when that happens.

"Actually," I say, then hesitate. As soon as I spoke, every single one of them falls silent. They ignored the boy yelling at them, but they went quiet when I said something. I slowly lower my hands from my ears, looking around at all the ones that I can see. I know there are more, a lot more, than I can see right now. "It was just," I continue slowly, "hurting my ears…"

"Sorry about that," the boy who yelled says, his volume normal now. He smiles, "I'll try to keep my voice down then. Hang on, we'll get you out of there." He turns away for a second then, and when he turns back towards me, he lowers a rope with a loop at the bottom of it down into the box. I just look at it for a minute, then look back up at the Gladers. Suddenly, I realize what a terrible, horrible idea this probably was. I wasn't even sent, I didn't even have permission. I have no idea what I'm doing. I could ruin everything, kill everyone.

Maybe it is a terrible idea, maybe I did just mess everything up. Either way, there's no turning back now, I realize. And even if there was, I don't think I would take it. I'm here now, and I'm here for a reason, even if it's not the reason everyone else does this. And…if this ruins everything and puts everyone in the Glade in even more danger than they were already in…well, then I guess I'll have to protect them from that.

"You going to stay in there all day, Greenie?" the boy who lowered the rope down asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I ask, looking up at him.

"Greenie," he smiles. "It's what we call new arrivals. Come on, you can't stay in there all day."

I hesitate for another second, but then I stand up and put one of my feet in the loop, letting the Gladers pull me up out of the box. As I get to the top, at least half a dozen hands reach down to pull me over the edge, onto the grass of the Glade. I just let myself drop and lay there for a few minutes, face first in the grass, taking a deep breath to inhale the scent of green again. _Gods_ , it's amazing.

"You okay there, Greenie?" the boy asks after a minute. Hoping my cheeks aren't turning nearly as pink as I think they are, I quickly sit up, then stand up.

"I'm fine. Sorry."

"I'm Nick. Do you remember anything? Your name?"

"Hopper," I tell him, dodging the first question. "My name's Hopper."

"Weird name," one of the other boys says.

"Yeah, very weird, _Alby_ ," a different boy says pointedly.

"Okay, _Frypan_ ," Alby counters, making me laugh a little bit. Alby smiles as he glances at me. Then he looks back at Frypan though. "What are you even doing over here, slinthead, you're supposed to be making dinner."

"Dinner's made, shuck-face," Frypan retorts. "You're the slinthead for being too interested in the Box to know."

"Alright, alright," Nick finally cuts in, chuckling. "The Box came late today, so let's get something to eat. I'll give you the Tour tomorrow. Welcome to the Glade, Hopper."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: First Night**

I follow Nick to one of the few small buildings in the Glade. "This is the Kitchen, where all the food is. Just to warn you though, Frypan's a terrible cook," he says as he takes two trays from Frypan, handing one of them to me.

"Fine, starve if you don't like my cooking," Frypan grunts, not even bothering to look up from serving other Gladers. Nick chuckles, but doesn't bother responding as he turns away and we go over to one of the picnic tables. A few other boys are already sitting, talking while they eat, my arrival already pretty much forgotten. Food's more important than a Greenie, I guess.

Just as we're sitting down, I notice other Gladers walking through the giant doors that lead into the Maze. From here, I can see all four doors, two boys walking in through each one. The closest ones, though, are the east doors, where a tall boy with slightly curly blonde hair and a muscular Asian boy with short cropped black hair are talking as they walk.

"Who are they?" I ask Nick, gesturing towards the pair and the others coming in from the maze.

Nick has to glance over his shoulder to look. "Those are the Runners. They go out into the Maze every day and run it." As he explains, the blonde one glances over towards us. Then the blonde just stares, even as he walks. At me, I think. Maybe because I'm staring at him. Watching the way his eyes are squinted slightly against the sunlight, and the way the wind's blowing at his dirty blonde hair.

He's slowed down walking a little bit, as we continue to stare at each other. He might have completely stopped walking, but the Asian boy gets his attention again, making him look away from me. I glance down as he glances away, but as he continues to follow the Asian, I see him glance back at me again, briefly, before turning his attention away completely. Again, I'm hoping my cheeks aren't nearly as pink as I think they are. They probably are though.

"Something wrong?" Nick asks.

"What?" I look at him, eyes wide.

"Your face is red," he points out, probably making my face turn even more pink.

"Nothing's wrong," I say quickly and quietly, looking down at my plate. I haven't really eaten anything off it though, I don't really feel the desire to either.

"You sure?" Nick asks. I just nod this time, not saying anything. By now the Runners have disappeared into another one of the buildings. Before either of us can say anything else, the harsh sound of stone grinding against stone sounds through the air, and I clamp my hands over my ears in defense against its volume. Nick looks over his shoulder, and I follow his gaze to see all four of the doors sliding to a close. Nick doesn't bother to watch them the whole time, but I do. Something about the closing of the doors makes my heart pound so hard that it hurts. But I don't even know why exactly I'm getting this feeling, so I don't know what to ask Nick about to try to figure it out.

When the doors finally closer, I lower my hands from my ears, still looking at them.

A little while later, after Nick and I finish eating, he leads me over towards the biggest building in the Glade. "Like I said, I'll give you the Tour tomorrow. But, this is the Homestead." The Homestead is four stories tall and built pretty sloppily. It almost looks like it'll tip over or just fall apart if the wind blows too hard. "But just the Keepers, me and Alby sleep in there. Pretty much everyone else sleeps outside, over here," he leads me to the rea in between the homestead and the area where they must grow all the fruits and vegetables for the Glade. Quite a few boys are already getting settled for the night, both in sleeping bags and in hammocks hanging in between the trees. "I'll go get you a sleeping bag. Be right back."

Nick walks away, leaving me alone. I wander over to the garden area to see what exactly they're growing. It's getting dark out, the doors are closed, all the work for the day is done. It must be getting difficult for everyone to see, because flashlights are being turned on so that people can find their ways to the homestead, which seems to be fully lit up with electricity, and the kitchen.

Usually I can see almost perfectly at night. Even during a new moon. But tonight, there's no moon, no stars. So it's difficult even for me to see. That scares me, but I try to push down that fear, as I kneel down in the dirt and look closely at the plant, trying to make out what they are in the almost complete absence of light. Even the light from the Homestead is almost no help at all.

"Greenie," a British accent says from beside me. I look up, eyes wide, weirdly surprised. Usually, I'm impossible to sneak up on _because_ of my sensitive hearing. But this time, I was too distracted trying to see in the dark.

One of the Runners is standing beside me. The one that came in with the Asian boy, who stared at me for so long. "Take it," he says, and I realize that he's holding a flashlight.

I reach up hesitantly and take the flashlight from him, "Thanks…" He just nods and turns away, going back to wherever he was before, probably.

Smiling slightly to myself, I look down as I find the button on the flashlight with my fingers and click it. I've never used a flashlight before, so of course I shine the beam right in my eyes at first. I startle myself enough that I fall backwards, almost dropping the flashlight. I can hear someone chuckling quietly at me, but I don't dare shine the light at them to see who it is. I don't think I even want to know who it is. Instead, I just sit back up and shine the lights on the plants.

I figure out quickly that they're growing pretty much everything possible here. Strawberries, carrots, potatoes, peppers, and a lot more are growing in the vegetable garden. And in the back, closer to the wall, are fruit trees. Apples, oranges, pears, even bananas.

"There you are," Nick says behind me.

"Sorry," I apologize as I turn around. "I was just curious."

"No, it's fine. Here's your sleeping bag," he hands me a rolled up sleeping bag. "And I did bring you a flashlight…" he trails off, holding a spare one, since the one that's on is his.

"I'll take it," holding my sleeping bag under one arm, I reach out for the flashlight. "One of the Runners let me borrow this one."

Nick nods, handing it over. "Well, I'm going to fin Alby. You good her on your own?" I nod, so he turns around and walks away, going inside the Homestead. I turn off the Runner's flashlight and turn my own on, turning back around to look at the fruit trees around me. Then I turn towards where everyone else sleeps. Deciding to just return the flashlight tomorrow, when I'll actually be able to find them easier, I spread out my sleeping bag right where I am, among the fruit trees, and crawl inside it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Track-hoes**

I don't end up sleeping. But then, I didn't really expect to. Sleeping isn't exactly normal for me. Instead, I spend the night just lying in my sleeping bag, listening to everything around me. The even breathing of the sleeping Gladers, the occasional groans from a few that have nightmares, the restless and incoherent mumbling of one Glader that doesn't seem like he's going to sleep any time soon either.

And I listen to the Maze. There are no people out there, but there is something. Many somethings, I think. Some are machines, some are real creatures with flesh and probably bone. Whatever they are, they stalk the Maze now. I didn't hear them during the day, but now there's too many for me to count how many I'm hearing. The same jolt of fear passes through me that I felt when the doors were closing. Except, this one makes a little more sense.

Before the sun even rises, a few boys start to stir. A couple of them complain as they get out of their sleeping bags and change their clothes. I listen as the Runners pack themselves lunches and water, then I reach up to cover my ears as the large stone doors grind themselves open. I watch the Runners that I can see leave, and listen out for the creatures that I heard before. But whatever they were, I suppose they're nocturnal, because I don't hear any of them now.

By the time the doors are fully open, everyone else in the Glade is waking up and the Runners are already gone, into the Maze. Supposing that this must be my cue to get up too so that Nick can give me the Tour, I crawl out of my sleeping bag and roll it up, storing my flashlight inside it. I look at the Runner's flashlight, remembering that I have to return that to him today. After tying my sleeping bag together and tucking it in between a tree and the wall, hopefully out of the way, I pick up the Runner's flashlight. I know I'm going to forget to return it to him, so I'm just going to carry it around until he comes back and I can give it back to him then.

"Hey, Greenie," Nick calls, breaking me out of my thoughts again. I look over my shoulder to see him standing near the front door of the Homestead. He must have just come out. I scramble to my feet and hurry over to him. "Why are you carrying around a flashlight?"

"It's the Runner's," I explain. "I don't want to forget to give it back."

Nick laughs, but shrugs, "Good that. Ready for the Tour?" I nod, so he starts walking, and I follow him, looking everywhere and at everyone he points and waves to. "You already know the Homestead and the Kitchen. The Gardens is where you were last night, that's where the Track-hoes work and Zart's their Keeper. The Builders don't have their own work space, but today a couple of them are replacing the shutters on the Kitchen. Gally, he's their Keeper. It's probably best you stay away from him. He can be…grumpy. The Med-jacks are on the second floor of the Homestead, but that Clint, their Keeper. It's mostly just him and Jeff, but if things get too bad, there are others that help out. This is the Deadheads. Deep in there's the graveyard. That's the Pastures, where all the animals are kept and taken care of. There are eight jobs here. Usually what we'd do is spend about a week, one day for each job, until we figured out where you're best suited to work. But I'm going to go ahead and put you with the Track-hoes in the Garden, so you'll start working with them after you get something to eat. Good that?" by now we've circled the entire Glade and are at the Kitchens, where a bunch of other people are already eating. I nod in response, and Nick and I go to Frypan to get our breakfast of bacon and eggs.

"How's the Greenie holding up?" a boy asks as he sits down at the table with me and Nick with his own tray of breakfast.

"Better than you did," Nick smirks.

"Don't listen to him, I did better than most of these slintheads on my first day," the boy says to me.

"He's full of klunk," Nick shakes his head. "When he first arrived, he was bawling like a baby and refused to leave the box until Gally jumped in and threw him out."

"Well that part's true, Gally did, literally, throw me out of the box. Airborn," the boy gestures with his hand. "Almost gave me a concussion, I landed on my head. Hate that slinthead, to this day."

"Yet he's a Builder," Nick grins.

"I'm Ben by the way," the boy finally introduces himself, then points to the bacon I've left uneaten, "You going to eat that." I shake my head, so he plucks a piece off my plate and eats it himself.

"I'm Hopper," I introduce myself.

"And I'm stealing him," another boy, taller than Ben or Nick, appears, grabs Ben by the arm, and hauls him away. Ben does manage to snatch the last two strips of bacon as he's swept away though.

"Who was that?" I wonder, watching the taller boy pull Ben away. I recognized his voice as the one that was up most of the night, muttering to himself. He muttered the entire night, never going to sleep.

"Leo. He's insane. I'd try to warn you to stay away from him too, but unlike Gally, he actually likes people, so he'll probably harass you at some point. Anyway, come on, you should get to work." Nick gets up, so I follow suit, and follow him back over towards the Gardens. The rest of the Track-hoes are already working, I'm a little late.

"'Morning, Zart," Nick greets. "I'm sticking you with the Greenie."

"Fine," Zart says, not seeming to care either way.

"Don't overwork him," Nick warns as Zart starts putting me to work. Nick lingers for a little while, watching, but after a little bit, he wanders off back to do whatever the leader of the Glade does while everyone else is working.

It takes me almost no time to get settled as a Track-hoe. It's been a very, very long time since I've worked with plants. Too many years than I want to acknowledge. But I get back into the rhythm of it almost instantly, and I love being able to work with plants again. Zart is nice enough to try not to overwork me, but I end up doing more than just about every other Track-hoe, just because I know what I'm doing and I know how to do it fast and efficiently. After a couple hours, he gives up trying to get me to slow down, once he finally figures out that I'm not exactly intentionally rushing to finish the job, I just naturally work this fast. But even after that, every hour or so he asks if I need a break or water, which I never do.

"Alright, Greenie," Zart finally says. "Looks like that's about it for today." He looks at the watch on his wrist. "We finished a lot earlier than usual today too."

"So, what do we do now?" I ask, still crouched in the dirt. The Runner's flashlight is sitting in my lap, I've managed to keep it with me all day.

Zart just shrugs, "Whatever you want." He walks away, but I stay where I am for a little bit longer, watching as all the other Track-hoes leave and go to do their own thing. I look around, watching all the other Gladers that aren't working right now, to see what they're doing. Some boys are going back to their sleeping bags to take naps or relax. Most people, though, are just sitting around at the picnic tables or against the wall, talking or just sitting in silence.

It all seems so _boring._

I smile as I get an idea, and I pick the Runner's flashlight up and hurry off to find Nick.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Free Time in the Glade**

"Hey, Hopper, given up already?" Nick jokes when I find him.

I shake my head, "Work's all done."

Now he looks surprised. "Really?" I nod. "Wow. Okay, we're definitely keeping you with the Track-hoes. Good that?"

I nod again, "Good that. But I have a question. Do you guys ever play games?"

"Games?" he looks at me curiously.

I nod, "Like sports." I want to suggest capture the flag in the Maze. _That_ would be fun. But that one, I seriously doubt Nick would go for.

"We don't even have anything we'd need for that," Nick tells me.

"Well…can we get it? I mean, how do we clothes and stuff?" Because I haven't seen _any_ resources to make jeans like the pair Nick's wearing. "Maybe they'll send stuff?"

"The Box'll be coming back in a few days with supplies. We can ask."

I blink up at him. "Wait, we can ask for stuff?"

He nods, "Yeah, we just put a note in the box. We don't always get what we ask for though."

I shrug, shaking my head, "We won't know unless we try though, right?"

"I guess not," he shrugs too, smiling. Then he looks up, over my head, and yells, "Hey!" I jump, surprised, and clamp my hands over my ears – which doesn't work so well with one side, because I'm still holding the Runner's flashlight. I look over my shoulder to see who Nick's yelling at, and see that the Runners are back and most of them are standing just outside the building they went into yesterday, opening the door to go inside. "One of you grab the Greenbean a pencil and paper when you come back out!" A couple of the Runners nod as they head inside.

"Sorry," Nick apologizes when he looks back at me and I lower my hands from my ears. "Forgot. Anyway, just write down what you think we need, and put the note in the box. I'm leaving you in charge of this. Good that?"

I nod, smiling, "Good that!" Then he turns and walks away, off to do leader-y stuff. "Good that," I say again, to myself this time, gripping the Runner's flashlight in both hands. I just stand there for a minute, not knowing what to do, looking around. Then I realize I'm hungry, and it smells like Frypan's cooking, so I head over to the Kitchen to get dinner from Gally, then go back to the Gardens to sit alone there while I eat.

"Oh no," Ben joins me a few minutes later, plopping down in front of me. "You are way too new to hate everyone already."

"I don't hate anyone," I say, confused.

"Really?" He pretends to be surprised. "Cause I do. What are ya doing way over here anyway?"

I shrug, "I like it over here."

"In the dirt?" he glances at the Gardens pointedly.

"Yes, in the dirt," I say a little haughtily, then we both laugh. I collect myself first, taking up a haughty tone again as I ask, "And what, exactly, are _you_ doing way out here anyway?"

Ben's stopped laughing, but he's still grinning, "Like I said, I hate these slintheads."

"You don't really." I refuse to believe any of these Gladers really hate each other. They've got to be like family.

"No, not really, but they are driving me insane. I need someone normal to talk to." Well if he's thinking that "normal" person's going to be me, some day he's going to be _very_ disappointed. "Minho's a cocky shank. Leo's insane. I can't understand a word Graham says. Gally's in a worse mood than usual. George never stops talking. Leo's insane."

"You said Leo's insane twice," I point out.

"Only twice? No, you haven't had to really deal with him yet. Leo is completely insane. Half the time nobody can understand what he says either. I don't think even he can, it's just all random words spilling out of his mouth."

"I think I heard him muttering to himself last night," I say thoughtfully.

"He does that just about every night. You get used to it, you'll end up sleeping through it usually. Some nights it he gets really loud though. Shouts even sometimes."

"At someone?"

Ben shakes his head, "Not unless you count himself," he says around a mouthful of food. I make a grossed-out face at him, making him almost laugh. He shakes his head, getting more serious. "I don't know, man, I think the people who put us in here did something to him first. Screwed with his head," he does the crazy sign, making a spiral near his head with his finger.

"You really think they would do that?" I ask.

Ben shrugs, "They stuck us all here, didn't they? No telling what else they'd do."

"I guess not…" I agree quietly.

"What, you don't eat meat?" Ben asks after a quiet minute, pointing to my plate. Finished with the vegetables, I set it down beside me a couple minutes ago. I make another grossed-out face as I shake my head, so Ben shrugs and takes my plate, setting it on top of his now empty one so that he can help himself to my meat.

"Greenie." A British voice beside me again. I look up, this time, to see the Runner that let me borrow his flashlight last night. This time, he's holding out a pencil and a sheet of loose leaf paper.

"Trade," I pick his flashlight up and hold it out to him as I take the paper and pencil from him. He takes the flashlight without a word, then turns and walks away, towards the sleeping area. I watch him drop his flashlight on what must be his sleeping bag before he heads to the Kitchen.

"That was weird," Ben says around a mouthful of food, watching the Runner head to the kitchen.

"What?" I ask, standing up. Ben grabs his water bottle and stands up beside me, then walks with me over to the picnic tables.

"He's usually really nice to Greenies," Ben nods towards the Runner.

I shrug, "He let me borrow his flashlight last night."

Ben shrugs as we sit down at an empty picnic table. "What are we doing over here?" he changes the subject.

"I needed a table." I start writing out the list of things we could use to play sports, starting with the absolutely necessary stuff.

"For…?" Ben prompts.

"Games."

"Games?"

I nod, then explain as I write, "I'm a Track-hoe now. And I guess I work faster than everyone else, so we all finished earlier today than they usually do. And nobody does anything when there's free time. It's boring. So I thought maybe we could play games. So I'm asking for stuff. What? Is that stupid?" I glance at Ben, eyes wide, when I realize he's just staring at me.

"That's awesome," he shakes his head, smiling. "Life in the Glade's going to be so much more fun with you around." I can't help but smile as I look back down at my list, looking over it to see what else we'll need. Once I'm done, and Ben's done eating both of our dinners, he and I go over to the Box in the middle of the Glade. He opens the doors for me, and inside, the Box is still there, waiting. I fold up my list and drop it into the box.

"Hopefully they give us this stuff," Ben comments as he closes the door.

"Hopefully," I agree, nodding.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: In the Box**

By the day the box returns with the supplies, I've fallen almost perfectly into the Glade routine. Because of me, the Track-hoes always finish work earlier than they used to, and usually earlier than just about every other job too. Especially the Runners, of course. I also figure out, piece by piece, that there are some things that Nick, for whatever reason, failed to tell me while he was giving me the Tour. Like about the Slicers, who take care of the animals and then butcher them for food. If I wasn't already a vegetarian, that would have made me one.

The Box comes late again with the supplies. By the time it does finally come, a bunch of boys are already gathered, waiting to unload. With work done for the day, I'm sitting in the grass, waiting with them. I watch the Runners all come back, one by one. Most of them make their way straight to the building that they always go to as soon as they come back. The Asian and the blonde one come over to the box instead.

"What's going on?" the blonde one asks Alby.

"The shucking Box is late again," Alby, also sitting in the grass, waves a hand impatiently towards it.

"I hear it!" I announce, sitting up straight, making just about everyone else look at me, then at the box expectantly. A few seconds later, the boys start to hear it too and get to their feet. When the noise stops, Gally and the Asian runner pull the doors open.

I jump right into the Box, along with a couple boys who start to lift stuff up to be unloaded.

"Shuck, we actually got the stuff," Nick comments, knelt down at the edge of the box, looking down at the stuff I'm standing in front of. Piled up in one corner is, from what I can see, everything that I put on my list.

"Is there a soccer ball in there?" Leo asks.

"What's a soccer ball?" a boy whose name I don't know asks as I toss the soccer ball up to Leo, grinning.

Leo, however, looks mortified as he looks at the other boy.

"Shut up, shank," Gally growls, pushing past the boy so that he can get to the front. "Got a football?"

"Gally, I didn't expect you to take any interest in this," Nick comments as I hand a football up to Gally.

Gally doesn't even bother commenting that time.

Before long, I'm pretty sure just about every boy in the Glade is gathered around the Box, talking excitedly and taking the stuff that I pass up out of the Box. By the time I finish tossing out the stuff I asked for, everything else that came is unloaded too. Nick lays flat on his tummy, reaching down for my hand, grinning. I don't move right away, just looking at his hand. I wonder if he knows what it means. It briefly occurs to me that in the Glade, it could mean nothing. I hope that's not true though.

"You going to stay in there all day, shank?" Nick asks after a minute. I look up at him, then around at the Gladers that I can see. Most of them aren't paying attention to me anymore, now that they have their shiny new toys. But Ben seems to be waiting for me to come out too. I glance down, smiling. Maybe coming into the Maze really was a terrible idea. Maybe it'll get us all, myself included, killed.

But maybe we'll survive. And either way, at least we'll have fun on the way.

I reach up and take Nick's hand, then let him pull me out of the box.

 **PS Thank you highbythebeach, I'm so happy you liked the old version, and I hope you like this one even more!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Green and Brown**

Within an hour, the whole Glade's just about in chaos. Several games have broken out; soccer, football, some are even playing field hockey. I plan on playing soccer, but for now, I'm trying to find Nick. Today, I've decided, is a celebration for me. And that celebration must include a bonfire. And I don't care how much I have to beg Nick to make it happen, I won't stop bugging him until he gives.

"Nick!" finally spotting him, I break off into a jog. He's sitting at a picnic table with Alby, the blonde Runner who let me borrow his flashlight, and a few others.

"Hey, Greenie," Nick smiles at me. "I figured you'd be playing with the others."

"I will, but I had a question first. Do you ever do bonfires here?"

"Bonfires?" he looks surprised.

"This shank's a pyro," Alby laughs. I just stick my tongue out at him.

"I'm serious!"

"Did you just stomp your foot?" Nick looks down at my feet and I can feel my cheeks turn pink. I do have a habit of doing that, apparently, though I've never really noticed.

"Nick!" I whine, trying to get his attention again.

"How old are you?" one of the other boys asks. I ignore him though, because I just want my bonfire!

Nick, thankfully, finally answers my questions, chuckling, "No, we don't. Half these shanks probably can't be trusted near fire, they'll burn the entire Glade." He looks pointedly at one boy, who looks offended.

"That was one time, and it was Frypan's fault," the boy says defensively. I just look at him with wide eyes. They really almost set the Glade on fire?

"O…kay…" I slowly turn my attention back to Nick. "Can we do a bonfire tonight? Please?"

Nick hesitates, thinking it over, torturing me. Alby's the first to speak up, "Come on, Nick, give us all tomorrow off and lets just make tonight a party. We could all use the break."

"If everyone else gets tomorrow off, so do the Runners," the blonde Runner says, speaking for the first time since I came over. I've been avoiding looking at him, but now I glance at him to see his full attention on Nick in the way that makes it seem like he's intentionally focusing on Nick so that he won't focus on something else.

Nick sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. He opens his mouth to say something as he shakes his head, but the Runner speaks up again, quickly. "Come on, man, we haven't had a day off since we started running the Maze. We're not making any progress, we can afford one night, one day, off. Nothing's changed in the entire time we've been here, nothing's going to change tomorrow just because we don't go out for once."

"Three against one, man," Alby comments, smirking.

"Three?" Nick looks at him. "You too?"

"Yeah, me too, we need a break! We're not getting out of this shucking place tomorrow either way, so we might as well have one night and day of fun," Alby says. The Runner glances at him before looking back at Nick, smiling. Alby grins, "Hey, if you want, we could put it to a vote."

"But I think we'd already know where that would go," the Runner adds.

Nick sighs, defeated, knowing he's lost. "Okay, okay, you traitorous shanks," he shoots a half-hearted glare at Alby and the Runner. "Bonfire tonight. But you three are in charge of it and responsible if the entire Glade goes up in flames."

"Thank you, Nick!" I jump up and down excitedly as he shakes his head, getting to his feet, and walks away. Once he's gone, I say to myself, "Now if I had drums or a flute, it'd be perfect."

"I think Leo's got a couple drums," one of the boys whose names I don't know says as the Runner and Alby get up. Without a word, I turn and run off towards where a bunch of boys are playing soccer, knowing I'll find Leo there.

"Leo!" I call out once I get to the edge of what they've marked as their playing field. I glances up, even though he has the ball. Someone else manages to steal the ball from him, tripping him up as they do, and I watch with wide eyes, jumping slightly, as he tumbles straight to the ground. He gets up laughing though, and comes over to me.

"Hopper, my friend, I was wondering when you would finally grace me with your presence," he grins. "What can I do for you?"

"Do you have drums?" I ask.

"Do I have drums?" he laughs. "Of course I have drums. I had to make them myself, but I do have drums. Why, are you planning a little party for tonight?"

I can't help but grin, "Something like that."

"Excellent! I've been waiting for a good party for a month."

"A month?"

"Yes, I arrived just before you did," he says as if I should somehow already know that. "I'll get the drums when night falls, now do you need anything else or can I go back to my game?"

"I don't need anything else," I smile. He bows grandly before turning and running back straight into the game.

Biting my lower lip to keep from grinning like a fool, I look around, intending to join a game for a while. But instead, my eyes fix on the forest in the corner, the Deadheads. Inside is the graveyard, Nick told me. But it's still a forest.

I find myself wandering over there, and inside, losing myself among the trees, trailing my fingers lightly along the bark of the trees as I walk slowly, stepping over and around tree roots. I close my eyes as I walk, taking a deep breath, inhaling the scent of dirt and grass, rich brown and alive green. I press my back against a tree, resting the back of my head against its rough bark, letting my head tilt towards the sky, towards the branches above me and open my eyes. And I just stand there, loving every second of being surrounded by green again.

A while later, Ben finds me. "There you are. They're about to light the bonfire. What are you doing out here?"

I don't answer right away, not even looking at Ben yet. Just looking up at the branches. After another minute, I bring myself back down to the Glade, making myself look down at the ground. "Nothing," I finally answer Ben. Then I look at him, smiling, "Race you back!" I turn and take off running before he can even say anything. Behind me, he yells that I cheated and races after me as I laugh.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Fire and Drums**

"There you are!" Leo spreads his arms out wide to either side, grinning, when he sees me and Ben approaching. Alby and the Runner look up from where they're knelt by the fire. Alby's holding a stick that's on fire.

"So can I light this thing up yet or not?" he asks, looking at me. Smiling I nod, so he shoves the stick right into the middle of the fire. Taking a few slow steps closer, I watch the flames lick the wood in the pile, slowly starting to char it, then catching and spreading.

"He is way too fascinated by that," someone comments, but I don't bother to look to see who. I don't remember the last time that I stood in front of a bonfire. The last time that it was an option. The desert heat is suffocating, nobody wants a fire in it.

I jump, jolting out of my thoughts, when a hand suddenly wraps around my wrist. I look at the hand, realizing for the first time that I'm now crouched near the fire, my hand reaching out towards it. The other hand stopped me. I look up, expecting to see Ben. But it's the Runner. He lets go of my wrist and stands up, not saying a word as he turns and walks away.

I just sit there, watching him walk away. He glances back over his shoulder at me, smiles briefly, then looks away again as he goes over to the picnic table that Alby's sitting at now.

"Tell me, my friend," Leo makes me jump again as he suddenly appears beside me, crouched down on the ground so that he's at least closer to my eye-level. "When are we going to get this party started?" I grins, a familiar sort of mischief in his eyes. I can't help but return the grin, as Leo holds out a hand to me. This time I don't hesitate. All thoughts are gone as I take his hand and he jumps to his feet too fast for me to keep up, so he hauls me to my feet too, laughing and catching me when I almost fall, off balance.

"Leo," Ben says cautiously, causing us both to look over. Ben's holding a drum, which I figure is one of Leo's. "How did you even get this?"

"I made it," Leo says as if the answer's obvious.

"Well, yeah…but… _how_?" Ben asks, still cautiously, like he doesn't really know if he wants to know the answer.

And I'm not sure I want to know either, looking at the manic grin that spreads on Leo's face. Ben quickly puts the drum down. "On to less mysterious subjects," Leo turns his attention back to me. "Now I have three drums, but I take you as more of a…" he pulls something out of his sleeve and holds it out to me, "flute player."

My eyes widen as I stare at it. It's clearly hand made, but beautifully crafted. A lot of thought and time clearly went into making this. Much more than in making the basic drums that are sitting near one of the picnic tables. "For you," Leo holds it out to me.

"You're serious?" I narrow my eyes slightly at him. Leo's a maniac, insane, and more than sometimes sadistic.

"I am very serious," he smiles. But this time, it's not a manic smile. It's a real smile, if not a little bit entertained. "If we're going to have some fun around here, it might be best if we play to our strengths, don't you agree, my friend?" There's that familiar mischief in his eyes again, a strange and rare fire that's actually not that rare for me, who knows only other people like me. I narrow my eyes slightly at Leo again, this time questioningly.

"Are you…?" I start to ask quietly.

"Are you, are you, coming to the tree, where they strung up a man, they say who murdered three?" Leo started to sing quietly before breaking into slightly manic laughter. He presses the flute into one of my hands so that he can dance away, snatching up one of his drums. I can't help but laugh, the sound tumbling out of my mouth before I even know it's there.

"Strange things did happen there, no stranger would it seem, if we met at midnight, in the hanging tree," I sing quietly, mostly to myself, before bringing the flute to my lips and blowing softly through it. It's been years since I've been able to play the flute either, but this too comes back like it's been no time at all.

And while Leo beats on one of his drums, and two other boys beat on the other two drums he's made, and I play my flute as I dance around the fire, as almost a dozen other boys dance wildly around the fire, everything transforms. This is no longer the Glade. As music pulses through the air and sparks snap and fly up from the fire, it turns into something else. Something older, wilder. It turns into the world that I came from. Or, at least, a piece of it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Aftermath**

I'm standing near the remains of the fire, which by now is basically just hot coals, when the day comes and the doors open. I cover my ears with my hands as I look away from the charred pile of wood and watch one of the Doors open. There are no Runners there today. There's no one other than me awake yet. Everyone else is sleeping in, enjoying their day off.

Everyone else except, apparently Leo, who's coming over towards me with an apple in his mouth, another one in one hand, and two bottles of water in the other hand. He comes right over to me, holding the apple out towards me. Now that the doors are fully open and my hands are free, I take the apple, just looking down at it for a minute before biting into it.

"Enjoy yourself last night, my friend?" he asks, taking the apple out of his mouth now that he has a free hand to do it.

I don't say anything. I just smile a little bit. Last night was the most fun I've had since I was little.

"A bit like Neverland, I imagine," Leo says after a couple minutes of silence, after he's finished a bite of apple. "Lost boys, fires, danger around every corner. Guess that would make you Wendy," he grins.

I can't help but grin back at him, "Then who's Peter Pan? Nick?" Somehow, Nick just doesn't seem the type. He's too nice to be Peter Pan.

Leo lets out a bark of laughter, startling one Glader who at some point fell asleep hunched over one of the picnic tables nearby. Leo and I look over, watch the Glader look around with half-lidded, sleepy eyes, then lay his head back down on his crossed arms. I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing as Leo sniggers into the back of his wrist.

"You know, that boy was watching you pretty much all night," Leo says once he's finished.

"What boy?" I almost laugh. In a place like the Glade, "boy" is about as least descriptive as it gets.

"The, um," Leo's brows furrow together as he gestures towards his own hair with the hand holding his apple, "with the blonde hair."

I just look at him. Blonde hair is a little bit better, but still not very descriptive.

"The British one," he says, sounding almost insulted I haven't figured it out by now.

"Oh, the Runner," I nod, finally understanding.

"He's a Runner?" Leo blinks at me.

I just look at him again. "Haven't you been here _longer_ than me?"

"Only by a month! Besides, I don't care about the people, I don't know who does what."

"You know who I am," I point out.

"You're different."

Can't argue that point. "You know who Ben is."

Leo shrugs, "I needed a slave."

I almost laugh, "Are we in the dark ages now?"

"I wish," Leo shrugs. "And for your information, there were no _slaves_ in the dark ages, just servants."

"I'm not entirely sure that's any better," I say thoughtfully. I look around the Glade again, all the Gladers, sleeping peacefully.

"At least half of these poor bastards or going to have wretched hangovers with they wake up," Leo comments, following my gaze at the other Gladers. As if on cue, someone in the sleeping area rolls over and throws up right next to his hammock. Again, Leo and I laugh.

As I'm watching the boys in the outside sleeping area, I notice the Runner waking up. Slowly pushing himself to his hands and knees, then staying like that for a little while.

Turning around, I take one of the bottles of water from Leo and walk away.

"Hey!" Leo calls after me. "It's rude to just walk away from someone without a word."

"Bye!" I chirp over my shoulder, grinning. He just rolls his eyes at me.

I go over to the Runner. By the time I get there, after stepping over and around more than a dozen sleeping Gladers, he's at least sitting a little bit upright, on his knees instead of on his hands and knees. He's still pretty slumped over though, so he doesn't see me as I approach.

"Here," I say, holding out the bottle of water to him. He looks up, surprised, then slowly takes the bottle from me after a few seconds.

"Thanks," he says quietly. I just nod, suppressing a smile, and then turn and walk away, going back over to Leo and the dead bonfire. Leo's watching, of course. I didn't really expect him not to be. As I get to him, though, he looks past me, back towards the sleeping area, probably at the Runner. Before he can tell me that the Runner's watching me, because I already know that he is, I steal Leo's water bottle, open it, and take a few long sips.

"That one was mine," Leo points out needlessly. I just smile.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Greenie Horn**

"I don't know about you, but if I don't get another party soon, I'm going to go mental," Leo says, dropping down to sit beside me. It's the middle of the day, so almost everyone is working. Except Leo, apparently. I'm knelt in the dirt of the Gardens, yanking up weeds.

"Then ask Nick for one," I say without looking up.

"Nick's not going to listen to me, he thinks I'm batshit," he says simply.

"He thinks you're what?" I stop working and look at him.

Leo just shrugs his head, sighing, "Never mind. You convince Nick to let us have another party, he loves you."

Before I can answer, though, a siren sounds, loud and high pitched, wailing through the air. I scream, both in pain and surprise, as I drop what I'm doing and slam my hands over my ears in a desperate attempt to muffle the siren. I squeeze my eyes shut against the tears forming and clamp my lips together to keep from screaming again. The sound seems to never end. It feels like it's splitting my entire head in half, sawing right through it. I start to feel light headed, and I can feel myself fall even further forward.

"Easy there," Leo says, steadying me and guiding me down until I'm sitting in the dirt. "It'll stop soon." His voice sounds like it's I'm hearing it through water though. That's scary, I've never had that happen before. I've never heard anything this loud before.

Finally, it stops. I gasp out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding as I drop my hands from my ears, doubling over. I feel like I'm going to throw up, my head is still spinning. "What _was_ that?" I manage to choke out. Even my own voice sounds muffled and far away and underwater though.

"Greenie horn," someone says. I can't tell if it's Leo though. I can't hear much of anything. "You okay?"

I shake my head, my eyes watering. "I can…I can barely hear."

"Get her to the med-jacks," someone, probably Zart, says. I look up as Leo pulls me to my feet, supporting me when I almost fall back down. The world is still spinning, and I still can't hear, and I don't like this. Not at all. I realize my entire body's shaking.

It's not until Leo takes me inside the homestead and is taking me up the stairs that I remember that I _can't_ go to the Med-jacks. It's too risky, they could find out too much, reveal my secrets to everyone else. "No," I protest, trying to pull away from Leo's grip. I succeed in that, only to almost end up tumbling backwards down the stairs because _nothing_ is steadying out yet.

"Trust me, my friend, you won't mind going where we're going," I just barely hear Leo say as he sweeps me right up of my feet and carries me the rest of the way up the stairs. I can't protest any more. Partly because I'm too weak, and partly because Leo's taller and stronger than me, maybe faster too, and he's already carrying me so I have no leverage to run away. So I just let him carry me up one flight of stairs, then another, then another.

"Where are we going?" I mumble as he kicks a door on the fourth floor open. I look around, making out a bed and a desk, among the swirl of everything. Leo sets me on the bed, and I just fall limply over the blankets.

"Just relax," I can make out him saying. "You'll go back to normal soon." I'm not entirely sure, but I think I hear him also say, "Or whatever accounts for normal for you freaks of nature." But maybe I hallucinated that.

For some time after that, everything's pretty much a haze. I make out Ben coming in, and him and Leo just hang out, talking. But I can't make out what they're saying. Ben does give me a bottle of water, which I drink all of in only a few seconds.

Eventually, though I don't know how long it takes, I do finally start to get my hearing back, much to my relief. I continue to just lay on the bed I'm on, just listening to Ben and Leo, listening to their voices to keep track of where my hearing is.

"Nobody's accent is as bad as Graham's," Ben's saying.

"Which one's Graham?" Leo asks, and even in my dazed state, I can't help but roll my eyes.

"He's a Runner!" Ben sighs.

"Hopper's Runner?"

"Hopper's Runner?" Ben asks in confusion. "Hopper has a Runner?"

"Not yet." I can hear well enough now to be able to hear the grin in Leo's voice. I decide to end this before it can go too far. I start to say something as I sit up, but the headache is enough to make distract me from that, and all that escapes my lips is a low, pained groan. Ben and Leo stop talking and I can feel their gazes on me as I press my hands against either side of my head, hoping to keep it from splitting in half.

"Feeling any better, my friend?" Leo asks.

"No," I whimper.

"Well at least you can still hear," Ben comments. To that, I just nod, then instantly regret the movement.

"How often does that happen?" I ask, taking the water bottle that Leo offers me.

"Once a month," Ben says.

"Every time a new Greenie comes through the box," Leo adds.

"Great," I mutter bitterly and take a sip of water. Too much of this, and I really could lose my hearing.

"Here," Leo kneels down beside the bed and reaches up with a wet cloth and starts wiping at the side of my head. "You bled pretty good. I cleaned up some of it, but it kept coming." I don't even remember him cleaning blood off me before.

I don't try to stop him now, I just continue to sit quietly, drinking my water.

"Well, maybe this'll make you feel a little better," Ben says after a minute. "Nick said there's going to be a bonfire tonight." I can't help but smile a little bit at that.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Alone**

Everyone else is at the bonfire. Leo brought his drums out again, and, from where I'm sitting, it looks just as wild over there as it seemed last time.

But this time, I'm not part of it. While everyone else is having fun, relaxing, partying, I'm sitting away from it all. I'm in the Gardens, sitting against an apple tree, just watching them. Nobody seems to notice that I'm not there. And really, in a Glade filled with dozens of boys, it's not all that surprising. It's probably nearly impossible to keep track of everyone.

So I go unnoticed, sitting far away from them all. Normally, I would probably listen in a little bit to the conversations, just enough to know what's going on, but not too much so that I don't invade their privacy. But I can't do that this time. My hearing's still dulled from the siren earlier, so I hear them distantly, as if they're miles away almost. I sigh, hoping that my hearing will come back to full strength by morning.

I pull one knee up against my chest and rest my chin on top of it. For the first time since coming to the Glade, I feel like I normally do. Calm, sad, and alone. Like I don't belong. I honestly didn't think I would feel like that here. Even though I'm the only girl, even though I'm so different from the Gladers. This is the green and the brown, the forest, the nature. Even if I don't necessarily belong with the people, I belong in this land.

I know that in my head, but right now, it doesn't really feel like that.

Someone's coming. I don't know if it's Ben or Leo or someone else entirely. But either way, I don't really feel like talking to anyone. So I crawl into my sleeping bag and turn so that my back is to them, hoping that if it is someone coming looking for me, they'll think I'm asleep and just go back to the party.

It's not though. Whoever it is never comes near me. They stop in the sleeping area, where the rest of the sleeping bags and hammocks are. I can make out the sounds of them sitting down, and a sigh. Someone else has decided to skip the party, but I don't dare look who. I don't want anyone to know that I'm awake. I don't want to talk to anyone right now. Especially not after I realize I can hear them crying. They think they're going to be left alone to cry, I don't want to ruin that for them.

The next morning, it's almost like yesterday never happened. My hearing's come back – although, the opening of the doors did hurt a little more than usual – and unlike the last bon fire, everyone's back to work the next day. The new Greenie, whose name I haven't found out yet, spends his first day working with the Track-hoes. And spends most of his first day gaping at how fast and hard I worked, for being the smallest one in the Glade. This, of course, thoroughly entertained Leo, who loitered around the Gardens all day since he apparently had no work of his own to do.

"You missed one hell of a party last night," Leo finally says to me, taking a break from mocking the Greenie. "Where'd you go anyway?"

"I was drained, I just laid down all night," I say simply. It's not a lie. I was drained. Just not necessarily in just the way that he thinks I mean.

"With that Runner?" Leo asks.

"What?" I stop working and look up at him, completely confused.

"The Runner you pretend you don't fancy. He was at the bonfire for less than an hour before I saw him wander off towards where you sleep."

So that's who came back so early last night. I look over my shoulder, towards the East doors, where the British and the Asian Runners always leave through together. That means it was also him that I heard crying last night. But why would he be crying?

I shake the thought out of my head as I go back to work. Whatever the reason, it's not really my business. We don't even know each other.

"I didn't even know that was him," I tell Leo.

"Really?" he sounds surprised. "Well that means I just lost a bet with Ben. That's embarrassing."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Running**

"Hopper?" a British voice whispers in the night. I sit up, confused. Why's he looking for _me_? We've still never really spoken. Actually, I don't think I've gone near him since just after the first bonfire, when I gave him that water bottle. That was almost two months ago. I still don't even know his name. He might know mine by now, since everyone stopped calling me Greenie when the new Greenie arrived last month. "Hopper," he calls again, slightly louder, though still at a whisper so that he doesn't wake anyone up.

Without saying anything, suddenly suspicious and nervous, I grab my flashlight as I stand up, clicking it on as I follow his voice and the light from his flashlight.

"There you are. Hurry up and change if you want," he says quietly when I get to him.

"Why?" I ask, even more confused.

"You're coming with me today," he says, now puzzled. "Nick didn't tell you?"

I shake my head, "Nick didn't say anything. Coming with you where?"

"Into the Maze. There's a new Greenie coming today and Nick wanted to get you away from the Greenie horn so you don't go deaf." It still seems a little strange to me that I've been here two months now. "Get ready, then meet me by the East Doors." I nod as he turns and walks away, using his flashlight to guide his way as he steps around and over sleeping Gladers.

I go back to my sleeping bag, where I have a change of clothes. I change quickly now, glancing around, making double sure that I can't be seen. Between the darkness and everyone around being asleep, though, I'm safe.

Once I'm changed, I go through the Gardens so I don't have to dodge Gladers, now that they're slowly starting to wake up. I leave my flashlight behind this time, both because I can see really well in the dark and because the sky is just starting to get light out. As I leave the Gardens, I look at the East Doors for the Runner. When I don't see him, I look around at the other Doors. None of the Runners are at their doors yet, but the lights in the Kitchen are on and I can hear them talking, getting ready for the day's run. For a second, I think about going to the Kitchen. But the Runner told me to meet him by the East Doors, so I just go there to wait instead.

Only a couple minutes later, the Runners start to trail out of the Kitchen and head to their doors. The Runner I'm going with is one of the last to come out, talking to a brown haired Runner whose name I don't know. They stand outside the Kitchen for about half a minute, finishing their conversation, before parting ways. The brown haired hunter goes to the South Door, where another Runner's already waiting.

"Where's the other one?" I ask the British Runner when he comes over to me. I haven't seen the Asian Runner yet today, and he usually leaves with the British one.

"Minho?" he asks. "He sprained his ankle yesterday, he's taking today off. Breakfast," he holds an apple out to me. I smile, eagerly taking the apple, since I didn't really think I would get any sort of breakfast today. He checks the watch on his wrist. "The doors'll open any minute. I don't think we've ever actually been introduced. I'm Newt."

"Ribbit." It's out of my mouth before I even know it. My eyes widen as I quickly slap my free hand over my mouth.

Newt acts offended, but I can tell he's pretending. "A newt is very different from a frog. Besides, your name's Hopper. You're closer to a frog than I am."

"I am not!" I protest, dropping my hand. "Newts are amphibious, like frogs."

"But frogs hop, Hopper."

"They _jump_ ," I correct. "Bunnies hop."

"So you're a bunny?" he's clearly amused by this entire conversation.

I nod, trying to act serious, but I have to force myself not to smile. "And you're a frog." There's a split second of silence, and then I give up and laugh.

The doors open then. Newt take the core of my apple and tosses it, along with the core of his, and I cover my ears with my hands to muffle the sound, as I look up and up and watch the doors open.

I'm not good at distance. I don't know how high the walls are. I don't even have an estimation, other than _high_. Too high to climb, I think. For me, at least. I'm good at climbing trees, or at least I used to be, but climbing something this high, even with vines and ivy all up it, would take a lot.

When the doors are open all the way, I lower my hands from my ears and check them. No blood, and nothing seems muffled. Good.

"Let's go," Newt says, and we take off jogging into the Maze.

I quickly realize that Newt's going slower than usually because of me. Three turns into the Maze, and we're just jogging. I don't want him to slow down because of me. So I pick up my pace a little bit, enough to pull ahead, but not enough to be going as fast as I can yet. I glance at Newt as I pass him. He seems surprised, but after a second, he smiles and picks up his pace.

We go back and forth like that for a while, not really racing but testing each other's speeds. Newt must actually be really fast, because no matter how many times we pick up pace, it still seems so easy for him. By the time we're going as fast as I can go, I can tell that I'm still slowing him down. But at least I'm not doing it nearly as much.

Around the middle of the day, I hear the Greenie horn. I unconsciously stop running and turn to look in the direction of the Glade. I can't see anything but walls though, of course.

"Does it still hurt your ears?" Newt asks. I glance at him. He's stopped too, a few feet away from me.

I don't answer right away, having to think about the answer first. I don't want to tell him that it does still hurt, even from way out here, and even though it's not _nearly_ as bad as before. Finally, I just shake my head and say, "It's not _nearly_ as loud out here."

"Good that," Newt nods as the siren stops. I look at him again to see that he's sitting on the ground against the wall now, his backpack in his lap as he starts to pull something out of it. "Lunch," he explains, holding out a sandwich in a plastic baggie for me. I go over to take the bag from him, then sit against the wall next to him. He sets two bottles of water down in between us, and after he's pulled out a sandwich for himself, he sets his backpack on the other side of him. The two of us sit in silence while we eat. When we're done with the sandwiches, Newt puts the empty baggies back in his backpack, drinks half his water bottle, then puts that back inside too. As we stand up, he looks at his watch. "You good to keep running?"

I nod. I may not be as fast as him, but I probably have at least almost as much stamina. Just _breathing_ in the desert increases stamina. Newt starts running, and for the first few minutes, we're testing each other's speeds again. Just like Zart, he's trying to go easy on me. But easy's boring and I really don't think I'm built for it. And I don't want to slow him down, I'd feel really bad if I did. So soon we're going just as fast as before.

It's not even an hour later until Newt stops again. He's barely out of breath. He checks his watch, then glances around.

"Something wrong?" I ask.

He hesitates, thinking, before asking, "How good's your memory?"

"Excellent," I answer, confused.

"You remember how we got here?"

I nod, "Every turn.

He looks at me, surprised, "Really?" I just nod again. "Okay, go ahead back to the Glade. Follow the vines I've been cutting. Think you can do that?"

I nod. He's been cutting vines and dropping them this whole time. The Maze's version of bread crumbs. "But wait, where are you going?"

"I'm going to run Minho's section of the Maze. But I have to go now, or I won't be able to get back in time. You sure you're okay to get back on your own?" I nod again, so he nods. "Try to remember this section for me, I may need your help later."

"Help? With what?" I ask.

"I'll explain later. Here," he takes his watch off and hands it to me. "The Doors close at exactly 7, make sure you're back by then."

Before I can say anything else, he turns and runs. He _sprints_ , and I was right he's at least twice as fast as we've been going. I watch him run until he rounds a corner and I can't see him anymore. Then I start heading back the way, walking at first as I strap the watch to my wrist. He's fast, but is he really fast enough to cover that much distance before the doors close again? I hope so…

Checking the watch, I see it's already 1. I have six hours to get back, and I think it took us about as long to get to where I am now. And that was while we were running. I'll have to run back if I want to get back in time. And I _really_ hope Newt's fast enough to get back in time.

Newt's fast. He'll make it back in time, before whatever comes out in the Maze at night comes out. I break into a run though, going as fast as I can, trying to make myself go even faster than we were going to get this far.

I stop at the first turn though, just looking at the vine. It's a Maze. There are lots of twists and turns. I could follow the vines, I would get back. But it'd take me longer. So I grab a rock, kneel down on the ground, and quickly map out the Maze. I remember it all perfectly, every turn, every dead end. I've always had to remember details, the location of everything. Otherwise, something would change, I'd miss it, and someone would end up dead.

Once I have the Maze drawn out, I quickly figure out where I am, then just as quickly figure out the fastest way back. Shoving myself to my feet, I start running as fast as I can. It's still not very fast, especially compared to Newt, but I have 5 hours to get back to the Glade.

I make it in about 3 and a half hours, and by the time I cross the threshold into the Glade, my legs and lungs are burning and my heart's pounding so hard it hurts. And I always thought running in the desert was supposed to be the most difficult.

I collapse to the ground as soon as I'm in, just sprawling out face first in the grass.

"Where's Newt?" Alby asks.

"I would wager he's hiding from those who would prosecute him for this murder," Leo says, and I can feel someone, probably Leo, poking me with the toe of his shoe. I weakly raise one hand to half-heartedly bat him away. I don't even connect.

Then Alby's question registers, and I sit up. "Wait, Newt's not back yet?" I guess it shouldn't be _that_ surprising. He's covering a lot more distance than I did, in not very much time.

"No," Alby says slowly. "How did you two get separated?"

Ben comes over and gives me a bottle of water as I answer, "He said he was running Minho's section too."

"What? That stupid shank!" Alby almost growls.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Leo comments as I drink my water. "There's still over an hour until the Doors close."

"It takes them all day to run their own sections, slinthead!" Alby snaps at Leo. "Two is just asking to get locked in the Maze."

I look over my shoulder, at the open Doors. If Newt doesn't manage to make it back in time, it'll me my fault. Because he's fast, and I slowed him down. A lot.

 **PS No, Bookworm742, all the Gladers think that Hopper's a boy. Since she wears baggy clothes and her hair has a tendency to cover almost half her face, she looks like a 13ish-year-old boy.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Waiting**

"What's going on?" Nick asks, coming over. It's less than twenty minutes until the Doors close, and Newt's not back yet. All the other Runners are back except him.

"The shank's still out in the Maze," Alby says angrily.

"What shank?" Nick glances between the four of us. It's me, Ben, Leo and Alby lingering near the Doors, watching out for Newt.

"Newt," Ben says.

"He's not back yet?" Nick asks, surprised.

"The shank decided he'd run Minho's section too," Alby snaps. He's pacing, and has been for at least fifteen minutes by now.

"You're kidding," Nick groans.

"This would be far less entertaining if it were a joke," Leo comments. "Hopper, my friend, how far away is the shank?"

I jump slightly, glancing at him. I didn't even realize anyone knew that I've been listening out for Newt. Sucking in a deep breath, I close my eyes again. "One hundred paces, in a straight line."

Leo _tut_ s. "The Maze is not a straight line. There is the possibility that he will not make it," he says as he slowly steps over to me. Then he drops his voice and adds, whispering in my ear so only I can hear, "What will you do then, my friend?"

I don't answer.

I jump, looking up, when the doors start to close. Alby stops pacing mid-stride. Even Leo straightens up, his gaze now locked on the Maze. Quietly, he repeats, "What will you do then?"

I try to listen to Newt's footsteps. But the sound of concrete scraping against concrete is drowning out everything. It's not just the Doors, it's everywhere. The Maze walls are moving.

"How far away is he?" Alby asks me.

I shake my head, "I don't know. I can't hear him anymore, there's too much noise, I can't make out his footsteps."

Alby swears, taking long, angry strides towards the Doors. For a second, I think he's going to go through them. He doesn't though. He stops just on our side. "I'm going to kill that shank," he growls.

"Can I watch?" Leo asks cheerfully, earning looks from Nick and Ben.

The Doors are halfway closed, and I still don't see Newt, and I still can't hear him because of the Maze walls.

Three-quarters of the way closed, there's still no sign of him.

It's almost closed. The spikes are less than a foot from the still side of the wall. None of us see him, I still can't hear him. But suddenly he's there, throwing himself through the Door, colliding with Alby and sending them both sprawling to the ground in the process, making me jump quickly out of the way, eyes wide. Leo, of course, bursts out laughing.

"You stupid shank!" Alby punches Newt in the face before he bothers to get up.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Newt snaps, one of his hands covering the side of his face where he was hit, as he stares up at Alby with wide eyes. Alby's on his feet now, and Newt's sitting up.

"Running Minho's section? Really? As if Hopper didn't slow you down enough!" Alby yells, gesturing towards me. Newt looks at me for the first time.

"Good, you made it back," he smiles. Alby's jaw drops and his eyes widen. He sputters for a minute before finally figuring out what to yell.

"Good, he made it back?! You almost got stuck in the Maze and _that's_ all you care about?!" he yells.

"Well yeah, he's a kid," Newt says simply. I just blink, confused. Newt can only be a year older than me, two at most. Beside me, Leo's sniggering, thoroughly entertained by all this. Ben's just watching with mild interest. Nick doesn't seem to know what to do or think.

"And you're a slintheaded shank," Alby snaps in frustration before turning and storming off.

"Well that went much better than I hoped," Leo remarks, grinning.

"You okay, man?" Nick asks, holding his hand out to Newt, who takes it and lets Nick haul him to his feet. When Newt nods, so does Nick. "Good that. Get some water." He claps Newt on the shoulder before turning to walk away. The Doors are closed now, the day's done.

"Bonfire tonight?" Newt asks, looking between me and Leo.

"Nick doesn't have a choice," Leo says before I can say anything. He pulls matches out of his pocket.

"How did you get those?" Ben asks. Then, immediately, "Never mind, I don't want to know." He turns to Newt, "You going to talk to Alby?"

Newt nods, glancing over his shoulder and towards the picnic tables, where Alby's now sitting with his dinner. "Yeah. Give him some time to cool down first." He turns and walks away, and I watch him go to the building that the Runners always go into when they come back from the Maze. Now it's just me, Leo, and Ben yet.

"Well, I think today was successfully entertaining," Leo breaks the silence after a minute. He's flipping the matchbook over and over in between his fingers.

"You're sadistic," Ben states simply.

"Very much so," Leo agrees just as simply.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: The Map Room**

I glare very pointedly at Leo. And he knows I'm glaring at him. He has for the entire time I've been glaring at him, which, at Ben's last count, has been at least half an hour. He's playing soccer. I want to play soccer, but my legs still feel like jelly and I'm honestly not even sure I can walk normally, much less play soccer.

"I wonder if your face could freeze like that," Ben says thoughtfully, gazing at me curiously. I stick my tongue out at him, making him laugh around the rim of his cup.

"Hopper, right?" the brown haired Runner with the funny accent asks as he comes over to me and Ben. I finally stop glaring at Leo long enough to look at the Runner, nodding.

"Hey, Graham," Ben greets.

"Hey. Hopper, come here," Graham gestures for me to follow him, then turns and walks away. Sliding off the picnic table bench, I glance at Ben questioningly, but he just shrugs, just as clueless as I am.

Graham leads me over to the building that all the Runners go into as soon as they come back from the Maze. He unlocks the door with a key that he pulls out of my pocket, then pulls it open for me. Inside, it's pretty bare. There's just a round table in the middle, and eight trunks sitting against the walls of the room.

Newt's the only one inside, sitting at the table, bent over a piece of paper. He looks up as I step inside.

"Good luck," Graham says before closing the door behind me, leaving me and Newt alone. I frown, looking at the door, not sure what "good luck" meant.

"Do you still remember the section of the Maze you ran with me?" Newt asks. I nod. "Good." He sits back in his chair, pushing the sheet of paper in front of him across the table and towards me. "I think I fried my brain trying to memorize two bloody sections at once. See if that looks right to you," he rubs his eyes tiredly.

I step up to the table, looking down at the paper. I had to rotate it, but once I did, it looked almost exactly like what I drew for myself back when I was in the Maze. Except there are a few things wrong with it. "This is supposed to be a dead end," I point. Newt rolls a pencil over to me, so I take it and fix that mistake, and a few others. Then I look it over one more time. "Now it's right." I look over the map again. Then I notice that he has a few more pieces of paper in front of him, all of them with the Maze drawn on them.

"Is this what you guys do in here? Map out the Maze?" I ask.

Newt nods, leaning forward over the table so he can take the paper from me, "Every day. Thanks." He looks over the map, but his eyes are red and he keeps rubbing at them. I'm not entirely sure he can actually see the changes I made. His eyes might be too blurry or his brain too fried. "Alby's right, I shouldn't have run Minho's section too," he shakes his head, gathering the papers into two pairs as he stands up.

"Eight Runners…eight sections?" I guess. Newt nods, opening one of the trunks and putting two papers inside it before closing it again. "So when one Runner gets hurt or something, there's no backup?"

"It doesn't happen often, thankfully, but no. Usually I'll try to run both sections when it does happen though, if I can," he explains as he puts the other two pieces of paper into a different trunk.

"That didn't work out very well today," I point out.

"No," he closes the lid of the trunk in front of him. "Today went badly. I was too slow," he says quietly, almost thoughtfully. I don't know if he's talking to me or himself. I look down, not wanting to say anything. It was my fault he was slowed down. I start to turn around to leave, but Newt speaks up again, getting to his feet. "They light the bonfire yet?"

I nod, "Yeah."

Newt smiles halfheartedly, "What are we still doing in here then?" He walks around me and opens the door, then holds it open for me to go through once he's outside. Once I'm out too, he close the door and locks it with a key that he puts back into his pocket. We walk over to the bonfire together, not saying anything, then he branches off to talk to Alby and I go over to Ben, who's still sitting on top of a picnic table. Graham's with him now though.

"What was that about?" Ben asks me when I sit down on the other side of him, on top of the table.

"I have a brilliant memory, that's all," I say haughtily. "What are you drinking?" I peer into Ben's cup.

"Gally's moonshine. Try it," he holds the cup out to me.

"Don't try it," Graham says. "You're too young," he reaches across Ben, trying to take the cup from me.

"None of us are old of enough for this klunk," Ben says, batting Graham's arm down. "Go ahead, try it."

"It smells foul," I point out, wrinkling up my nose at the smell. But I try a sip anyway. And immediately regret it. It burns my throat and tongue and tastes like I just tried to swallow fire or something. I start coughing immediately, making Ben and Graham laugh as Ben takes his cup out of my hand again.

"Why would anyone drink that?!" I wonder in between coughs.

"It's an acquired taste," Leo says, making me jump as he flops down on the bench, on the other side of me. He has his own cup of that fire drink in his hand. "It's actually not so bad. Tastes almost like whiskey," he says almost thoughtfully, taking a sip.

"Like what?" I ask. Ben, Graham, and Leo all look at me. Leo looks both offended and horrified.

"I think this one lost a little more memory than the rest of us," Graham says after a minute. I just stick my tongue out at him, then gag a little bit in disgust. I can still taste the moonshine in my throat.

"I need something to eat," I say, jumping off the table and going into the Kitchen to get something to munch on. Thankfully, Frypan's not around, so I won't get yelled at for taking extra food.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: A New Job**

"Nick!" I call, running to catch up with Nick and Alby. They both stop, turning to watch me catch up.

"All done working?" Alby asks.

"A little bit ago," I glance over my shoulder, towards the Gardens. It's empty of people now, all the work done as early as usual. I turn back to them, looking up at Nick. "I want to become a Runner." I ask him.

Nick doesn't answer right away. Instead, him and Alby exchange a look that I can't read. Finally, Nick says, "Runner's the hardest job here, only the best become Runners. It takes months, at least, to even be recommended."

"I made it back before the Doors closed last time, and I remembered the whole route. Ask Newt. I helped him remember…" I let my voice trail off. Suddenly I have the feeling I've said too much, because Alby and Nick look surprised. They exchange another look I can't read. Did Newt not tell them that I helped? Was I not supposed to tell them?

"Look," Nick says after a minute, "The Maze is dangerous, even during the day. You can keep going out with one of the other Runners on Greenie Day, but that's it. End of story." He and Alby turn and walk away. I don't follow, I just stand where I am.

"Well," Leo throws one arm over my shoulder, suddenly beside me, "At least you get one day a month. You'll work your way up, my friend. Now, how 'bout a game?" he grins, holding up a soccer ball. I can't help but smile, as I follow Leo, running to what's become the designated soccer field. He tosses the ball up in the air with a laugh, and the game is on. It's just me and him, one on one, but we're both competitive and we play hard, knocking each other to the ground and tripping each other up countless times.

As the game goes on, no real end or number of goals in mind, slowly other boys join us. By the time the first of the Runners come back, almost half the Glade's playing just one big, messy, somewhat violent soccer game. Even Gally's involved, despite preferring football. He can't play soccer to save his life, but he's good at knocking people around and out of the way. He's a surprisingly good team player when it comes to sports. So long as being a team player still means he can bash the other team around, I suppose. Those few who aren't actually participating in the game are on the sidelines, yelling and cheering.

I stop playing when I see Newt, watching from one of the picnic tables. I remember that he's the Keeper of the Runners. So, after being tripped on my way out by Leo as he was trying to stop me from leaving the game, I jog over to him. Surprisingly, he's alone. I think this is one of the first times I've ever seen Newt alone. He's usually at least with Alby or Minho.

"I'm amazed nobody's broken any bones yet," Newt comments, nodding towards the game.

"No broken bones," I agree, sitting down across the table from him. "But I think Gally dislocated Ben's shoulder earlier."

"Wouldn't be surprised," Newt shrugs, taking a sip of his drink. He's one of the few actually eating. Most everybody else is too busy playing to eat yet.

"I want to be a Runner," I tell Newt. He freezes, his forkful of food halfway to his mouth. He lowers the fork to his plate without taking a bite and just looks at me.

"What?"

"I want to be a Runner," I repeat.

Just like Nick and Alby, he doesn't say anything right away. I glance down, pretty sure I already know what he's going to say. "It's too dangerous," he shakes his head, just like I thought.

"Nothing comes out during the day. I didn't hear _anything_ yesterday while we were in the Maze."

"We got lucky. It's not always like that. Grievers can come out during the day too."

"So, if one ever came after me, I'd hear them coming and run or climb the wall or something. Isn't that what you guys do if you run into one during the day?"

"You're too young," Newt shakes his head.

"There's an age requirement on being a Runner?" I'm pretty sure at least one of the other Runners is fifteen, same age as me.

"Yeah. And there's a time requirement too. You have to be in the Glade at least 6 months. You've only been here two. Sorry, Hopper," he gets to his feet, taking his empty plate and cup with him, and goes inside to the kitchen. I just watch him go until he's inside and I can't see him anymore. Then I sigh, stand up, and just go to the Deadheads, not really in the mood to play any games anymore.

About halfway to the Deadheads, though, I look at the Doors. The Runners are all back, but the Doors aren't closed yet. They will be any minute though, I'm sure of it. None of the Runners come back _that_ early from the Maze.

I glance around, making sure nobody's paying attention. Nobody's even around though. Almost everyone's at the soccer game, and those who aren't are eating dinner.

Not even entirely sure what I'm doing, I change direction. Instead of heading to the Deadheads, I head to the Doors. For about half the way, nobody notices. Then I hear Nick yell, "Hopper!" I pick up my pace, walking fast. "Hopper, what are you doing?!"

Then I hear Alby, even though he's not yelling, "The shank's going into the Maze."

"No," I hear Nick say. "No way he'd be that stupid. He can probably hear what goes on out there."

"Whether he can or not, he's going," Alby says, then yells, "Hopper, stop! _Stop!_ "

Nick swears, and then I hear running, so I take off running. I may not be the fastest, but I am the closest. I'm too close for anyone to be able to catch me.

"Newt, stop him!" Nick yells, and my eyes widen. I shake my head though. No, I'm still too close. Newt's twice as fast as me, but I'm only about two dozen paces away from the Doors. They're just starting to close. I can make it.

I risk a glance over my shoulder, and my eyes widen in surprise. Newt's _fast_. Even faster than what I saw him run in the Maze. He's gaining on me, and now I don't know if I'll make it. I snap my head back around and I drive myself forward, faster, forward. I'm almost there, the doors are almost closed.

For a split second I think maybe I won't make it. The Doors are almost closed, I feel Newt's fingers brush against the back of my shirt. But I throw myself forward, through the small opening in between the stone and the spikes. The Door slams shut behind me, and I'm locked in the Maze.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: A Night in the Maze**

I slowly get to my feet, looking down the long hallway, as the familiar sounds of the Maze at night start to sound. Whirrs and clicks and dripping slime. Beasts that the other Gladers have nightmares about, things that Leo mutters to kill. I'm alone with it all now, standing defenseless against everything that makes this Maze scary to people with enough sense to feel fear.

But that's the thing about being what I am.

I don't feel fear.

I start walking, my steps making almost no noise against the stone ground. I start by taking the first turn that Newt and I took yesterday. After that first turn though, the entire path's different. The walls change at night, while the Doors are closing. The main corridors leading to the Doors stay the same, but everything else changes.

It's dark out here, no light to see by. I've finally found one thing that I don't like about the Glade, about the Maze. There are no stars. No moon. I don't need them to see, my night vision's excellent. But they are pretty.

The sounds are all around me, both mechanical and alive. They're loud and the mechanical pitches hurt, and there's so much of it floating through the air that I can't determine the locations of one creature alone. But I don't cover my ears. I'm not that foolish. This is a battle field. No matter how much my ears hurt, no matter if I go deaf by morning, I always utilize every single one of my heightened senses. Until I can't anymore.

I do wish I'd been able to bring a weapon, though.

But since I didn't, I spend the night hiding while I walk. Around corners, in the ivy covering the walls, up the vines hanging from them. Whatever I can to stay out of the grips of the beasts.

And the beasts, it turns out, are all one creature. A lot of them, but all the same thing. The Grievers are disgusting, monstrous things. Both mechanic and organic. Giant fleshy slugs with metal spikes and arms and saws and other deadly metal objects sticking out wildly from their bodies. They patrol the Maze slowly, leisurely, waiting for some foolish Glader to kill.

I'd kill one of them, if had a weapon.

But I don't. So I spend the night avoiding them. They don't seem to be able to pick up scent. How they ever find Gladers to kill, I can't figure out. Because there are no eyes, no mouth, no nose, no ears. There is nothing to distinguish head or tail of a Griever. Nothing to tell me how they find their prey. But plenty to tell me how they kill it.

I smile to myself, as realization hits.

It's training, of course. In skills that I've all but lost, in all the time in the desert. Some things just weren't necessary to do any more, not necessary to practice. Like tracking. Hiding. Sneaking.

So that's what I do, in my night in the Maze. Grievers are everywhere, so avoiding them is difficult. And that's perfect. Because the more there are, the more difficult they are to avoid, the more challenging this game I'm about to create will be. And challenging games are the most fun.

I pick up a rock from the ground and throw it, near a Griever. It stops moving. So they can hear. Good to know.

The Griever starts to make its way towards where the rock landed, meaning it starts moving backwards. And it looks exactly like it did when it was moving forwards. There is no head, no tail. There is no forwards, no backwards.

I'm not sure if that makes it more or less difficult.

More, I decide after a consideration. Because if there is no behind, that means I can't sneak up, and I can't fake it. No amount of agility will make it slow to turn to me.

I spend the entire night, watching the Grievers. Mostly from a distance. Sometimes getting close, testing their limits, seeing what exactly they can do. Whatever it is that gives them the ability to track their prey, either it's pretty dull or I'm better at sneaking than even I thought. At one point, I get close enough to touch a Griever before it realizes I'm there and almost impales me with one of its many spikes.

By the time the sky lightens the next morning, and I can hear the doors opening, I know more about the Grievers than the Maze makers likely ever intended any Glader to know. But as the doors are opening, they retreat. Go back to wherever they came from. I follow them.

I follow them through the Maze. They no longer care about killing me, no matter how obvious I am. All they care about is going back in their hidey hole.

Their hidey hole, strange as it is – not that I'm one who should be allowed to call anything strange – doesn't really exist. I watch them all, one by one, more than a dozen of them, roll themselves off the end of the Maze. This is the only place I've seen where there's a dead end with no wall. It just opens up into open sky. The Grievers roll light off it, and then disappear.

Once the last of them's gone through, I walk over to the edge, trying to see…something. Anything. There's nothing there.

"An illusion," I realize, kneeling on the edge. I lean forward as much as I dare, reaching out, trying to catch hold of whatever's hidden. Whatever it is though, it's too far out. I can't reach it. I start to sit up, ready to get a vine, but a voice shouting behind me stops me.

"What do you think you're doing, shank?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Caged**

"I thought I might see if I can fly," I say without looking at Minho. "Wanna bet on it?"

"Get back to the Glade, slinthead," Minho snaps. I can't help but laugh a little bit, quietly. But I stand up, turn around, and walk over to Minho, and then past him. "You don't know how to get back," he says behind me.

"Follow the vines!" I spin around on my toes, mock-salute him, and then spin back around, laughing as I continue to walk.

Behind me, I can hear Minho say, "Jacked shank," and I can't help but laugh even more.

I make it back to the Glade around lunchtime. I didn't rush very much. Jogged a little bit, but walked most of the way. When I get back, I quickly spot Ben at a picnic table with a couple other boys, talking while they eat lunch. Leo's leaning against the walls near one Door, until he sees me. Then he glances back and forth between the door he's near and the one I'm coming back through. I realize he's standing beside the door that I left through yesterday, the North Door, and I'm coming back through the East Door.

I start to walk over to where Ben is, but Nick catches me first.

"Good to see you made it back alive," Nick says as he comes up to me. Before I can say anything, before I even know what's going on, Nick's grabbing my arm and pulling me away, then pushing me into a small concrete building. That's when I realize what's going on, that I'm being locked up. I try to bolt right out of the building, past Nick, but he shoves me back inside and slams the door before I can get out. I scream at him, no words, just a feral sound that rips and claws its way out of my mouth, as I pound against the door.

"Sorry, Hopper," Nicks says as I hear the door lock. "The Number One Rule of the Glade is no one but the leader and the Runners go into the Maze, I told you that, Hopper. You broke that rule."

Even as I hear him walking away, I don't stop. I scream in that feral way, I kick and slam my fists against the door and claw at the crack of it.

"The more you do that, my friend, the longer you'll be in there, I wager," Leo says, appearing at the door.

"Let me out," I growl.

"I don't have a key, my friend. I think Nick's the only one that does."

"Then steal it! Pick the lock! Do _something_!" I cry, kicking the door one last time.

"I'm sorry, my friend, but I think it's best that you just wait out your time in there. The next step in punishments 'round here is banishment. Left alone in the Maze."

"I can _handle_ the Maze!" I yell, growling, slamming my hands against the door.

"Stop it, you're going to hurt yourself," Leo says.

"I _cannot_ stay in here!" I snap, not even bothering to hide the strange accent I've been hiding this entire time. My heart is racing, every one of my muscles is tense. I'm locked up, caged, and I'm panicking because of it.

"You're going to have to, my friend." I do just the opposite as I start pacing the length of the small building restlessly. It's too small. Very, very small.

"What's going on?" Ben's outside now.

"Hopper got locked up for going into the Maze last night," Leo informs him.

"I woulda figured that'd be a relief after a night in the Maze," Ben says almost thoughtfully.

"For normal people, it's likely. But Hopper seems to prefer just about anything to being locked in a cage."

"I'm glad you two seem to be enjoying this, but can someone get me _out of here!_ " I yell at them both, lunging at the door and slamming both my hands into it as hard as I can, making Ben jump.

"If you keep doing that, you're going to hurt yourself," Leo points out carelessly. I just growl at him.

"Are you sure it's _safe_ to let him out?" Ben asks, watching me cautiously.

"It'll be safer for all of us if Hopper's released fairly soon. How long does a night in the Maze warrant in lock-up?"

"Probably all day, at least. Maybe through the night too. Depends."

I slam both my hands against the door again before sliding down to just sit on the floor in front of it. I start clawing at the crack in between the door and the wall, trying to pry it open. I claw until my fingernails all break and my finger tips are bloody. Then I kick and pound the wall with my fists and flat hands and feet, screaming the entire time until my throat hurts so badly I can't scream any more. Then I just curl up in the back corner, quiet, waiting, listening.

Ben's gone away, called to work on something for Gally or something. I wasn't listening at the time, while I was screaming and trying to get out. Leo's still there, though. I can't see him through the small, barred opening in the door, but I can hear him, sitting outside, muttering incoherently to himself like he always does when he's not talking to other people.

It's not until hours later, I don't know exactly how many, but the day's at least half over, before someone finally comes. "I convinced Nick to give me the key," Newt says as he comes over.

"Oh, good," Leo says, standing up. "I expect an explanation behind that, and why you're back hours earlier than usual, later."

Newt doesn't comment as he unlocks the door and starts to pull it open. The moment it's even cracked, I burst forward, slamming through the door, slamming it open even more, passing Newt and Leo, and bolting, running, anywhere, away.

"Hopper's going to go back to the Maze," Leo says behind me, and then footsteps are flying behind me, racing to catch up with me so that they can cage me again.

I run even faster, maybe faster than I ever have before, just driving myself forward, forward, away. My goal's the Maze. There, I'm free, I can stay away from anyone. They can't lock me up if I'm in the Maze.

I don't make it to the Maze though. My captor grabs the back of my shirt and yanks on it, pulling me backwards, throwing me off balance, making me fall to the ground. They're fast, as fast as me. He pins me down before I can get up. I punch and hit at him, but he grabs my hand and pins them down too. So I kick instead. But I'm not the best hand-to-hand fighter to begin with, and I've _never_ been pinned down like this before. The few times I've been knocked down before, I've been able to get back up before anything could keep me down.

"Hopper! Hopper, stop! Hopper, if you don't stop, Nick's going to throw you in the Slammer again!"

I stop. I'll do almost anything to keep from getting caged again. For the first time, I see it's Newt that has me pinned down. Of course it would be, he's the fastest Runner in the Glade and he was right there when I took off.

"Calmed down?" he asks me. I nod. I haven't exactly calmed down, but if going anything other than acting calm is going to get me caged again, I'll pretend. He releases me, rolling off me so that he's sitting in the grass, and wipes blood away from the bottom of his nose. My eyes widen as I sit up.

"Did I do that?" I ask hesitantly, almost afraid to know the answer.

"The door," he says, bringing the collar of his shirt up wipe off the blood.

I nod, unable to say anything, as I clamber clumsily to my feet and start walking away. "Hopper." I freeze when Newt comes after me. "Where are you going?"

I realize immediately what he's thinking, that I'll go back into the Maze, breath the rules again. "The Deadheads," I tell him.

"Good that," he says, so I continue walking. But I stop again when he says, "And Hopper? Don't tell anyone about what just happened. They'll banish you for attacking another Glader."

I look down, not saying anything. But after a second, I nod, and continue walking, to the Deadheads, where I just sit with my back against a tree, hugging my knees to my chest.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Who Am I**

I stay out in the Deadheads for long past dark and Doors closing. Nobody comes looking for me until the middle of the night, when just about everyone's asleep.

"Are you, are you, coming to the tree, where they strung up a man, they say who murdered three," the familiar voice sings out quietly in the night.

I can't help but smile a little bit, as I drop my legs so that I'm sitting cross-legged, unable to help myself from answering, singing, "Strange things did happen there, no stranger would it be, if we met at midnight in the hanging tree."

"There you are," Leo smiles as he drops down to a crouch in front of me. "How long are you going to hide out here, my friend?"

"I gave Newt a bloody nose," I say quietly.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing," he grins. "As I recall, my friend, you're a fighter, you're meant to wound those who get in your way. Why do you think I jumped out of the way?"

"Leo," I sigh.

"Don't 'Leo' me," Leo says before I can say anything else, as he settles down to sit cross-legged on the ground. "Just because we're here doesn't mean we have to stop being who we are. It doesn't mean we have to be perfect Gladers."

"Who I am is a killer," I say quietly, not looking at him.

"Not a killer, a fighter. An unwilling fighter, at that. You're not in the Scorch anymore, my friend. You can be what you want to be now."

I smirk wryly, shaking my head, "I don't even know what that is anymore."

"I have an idea," Leo reaches forward and tucks my hair behind one ear. "You'll remember," he says simply as he stands up and walks away, out of the Deadheads. I wish it were that simple though.

But it's not any more. It hasn't been for years. Fighting daily is in my blood now. My first instinct is the fight now, to kill if necessary. I hate it, I have hated it for more than a year now. But it's all automatic now.

I untuck my hair from behind my ear, my fingers lingering slightly when they touch the point of my ears.

This place was supposed to be safe. I was supposed to be free here. Even with the walls all around us, they were keeping the desert away from me. I came here for a reason that no one, not even Helen, could dispute. It was a reason that gave me absolute freedom, that immediately discredited and discounted all my orders.

The reason I gave them, at least.

But, in the end, there were two reasons. Cricket probably knew. Maybe Helen did too. But even if she did, she couldn't have stopped me, just for one of the reasons alone. It voids even all other reasons. It's the second most important reason to do anything, ever.

It's a good reason, the first reason I came here. So why am I regretting it so much now?

I shake my head, realizing that answer immediately. I'm regretting it because, here, I can be caged. And I can't be caged in the desert. Not ever. Here, there are rules. Not many. But there are some. And if I break them, I'm caged. Unless I break them in a big way, and then I'm banished.

Banishment would be easier. I'm pretty sure I could fight a Griever and live. Kill it, and live. Maybe multiple. But I don't want to. More than anything, I don't want to have to fight anymore.

"Hopper?" that British voice snaps me out of my thoughts again. I look up and over, seeing Newt standing in the darkness. He has a flashlight in his hand, but it's turned off, so he probably can't see very well. But I can see him almost perfectly. I don't answer him right away. I just watch him stand there, to the left of me. I'm to the right of him. He's not even looking in my direction. He has no idea where I am.

"Hopper?" he calls again, slightly louder, but still not even at normal volume. I still don't answer. I just continue to watch him. He's beautiful, really. In more ways than one. I almost don't want to call out to him, let him know where I am, just so I can keep watching him like this. I've never been able to really watch him before. Too many people around. Too much to do. Too much getting in the way.

But now, in the darkness, when I can see him but he can't see me, and when everyone else – save for Leo muttering away in his room in the homestead – is asleep, there's nothing preventing me from going on and looking at him as much as I want.

"Hopper, I'm pretty sure you're still out here," Newt speaks up again. He looks around, but I'm pretty sure he's doing it blindly. Why doesn't he turn on his flashlight? "I just saw Leo leaving a few minutes ago. Please don't make me stand out here all night like a bloody slinthead."

I can't help but laugh quietly at that. "I'm over here," I finally tell him.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: The Deadheads at Night**

He turns his head towards my voice first, then clicks on his flashlight and shines the beam right at me, making me squint, turn my head away, and shield my eyes with my hand.

"Sorry," he lowers the flashlight's beam to the ground as he makes his way over to me. "I was starting to think you were just going to leave me standing there," he says as he carefully makes his way over. He sits down in front of me, his back against a nearby tree, and sets his flashlight down with the beam pointing in between us so that it won't blind either of us.

"I almost did," I admit.

He doesn't say anything for a minute, just looking at me oddly, with an expression I can't read. Then he asks, "Are you okay?"

It's not until then that I realize, at some point, I'd started crying. I'm not now, but there are still tear tracks running down my dirty face. I wipe at them, smudging the dirt over my face again to bury the tear tracks. "How's your nose?" I ask instead of answering his question.

"It doesn't really hurt anymore. The door didn't get me that hard, really."

I nod, looking down. "Good," I say quietly. I still feel horrible that I hit him with the door. But in that moment, nothing and nobody existed except escape. I just had to get out.

"Leo kind of explained it to me," he says after a minute.

"Explained what?" I barely glance at him. His nose doesn't look broken or anything, and it's definitely not bleeding anymore, but I can see even in this darkness that it's slightly bruised. Maybe swollen a little bit, I'm not sure.

"Why you tried to run when I let you out."

"What exactly did he explain?"

"That you're claustrophobic, and the Slammer scared you." After a hesitation, he adds, "You can't break the rules here, Hopper, not if you want to stay out of the Slammer."

"Have Nick banish me next time then. I survived one night in the Maze."

Shaking his head, Newt says quietly, "I don't even want to think about that."

"What do you mean?" I ask, looking at him. He's not looking at me though.

He shakes his head again, but this time it's dismissively. "Just don't do anything else stupid like that again, okay?"

"Okay," I say quietly, looking down. I pull my knees back up against my chest, crossing my arms over them and resting my chin on top of my arms.

It falls silent between the two of us for a little while, until Newt asks, "Why are you still out here anyway?"

I just shrug, not answering. Instead, I ask, "Why are you out here?"

He shrugs, settling back more comfortably against the tree behind him, "Couldn't sleep."

"So you came looking for me?" I almost smile.

He shrugs, "I saw Leo leave here earlier, figured you were still awake and out here."

I can't help but grin a little bit, "You based this off the most insane person in the Glade?"

Newt doesn't answer right away, blinking, realizing for the first time how ridiculous that is. "Okay, I got lucky."

"Very," I agree, laughing. "What?" I ask after a minute, noticing that he's looking at me strangely.

He shakes his head, smiling, "Nothing, you're just cute."

I look down, not saying anything, as I can feel my cheeks turning pink. Not knowing what else to do or say, I change the subject. "Why can't you sleep?" I ask, glancing at him and quickly looking away again.

Newt hesitates, but then admits, "Nightmares. You?"

I purse my lips, considering that for a second. I can't very well tell him that I'm not really built to sleep, but I can't lie and tell him that I have nightmares too. "It's complicated," I finally say vaguely. Thankfully, he doesn't press the subject. "What did you guys _do_ around here?" I wonder. "Before the bonfires and games."

"Work," Newt shrugs. "And sleep when we can."

"That's it?" I ask skeptically. When he nods, I add, "That's so _boring_!"

Newt laughs, nodding, "Yeah, it's definitely been a lot more fun around here since you came around."

"Good," I smile, pretty proud. I may be messing everything up, but at least I'm going to make it all worth it for someone.

 **PS** **Shewolfdeadly01, Leo knows a lot more than he should.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Message in a Box**

I slam into Leo's room, letting the door hit the wall hard. Leo, sprawled out on top of the blankets of his cot, jumps and falls right off it and to the floor.

"You _know_?!" I demand, loudly.

"Know what?" he asks tiredly, almost slurring his words, as he clumsily sits up and rubs at his eyes.

"Don't play the fool, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" I snap at him.

He blinks blearily up at me for a few seconds. Realization never hit his face, and instead of saying anything like, "Oh, _that_!" he just says, "It took you this long to figure that out?"

" _Me_?! Really, you're going to say _I'm_ a fool for taking this long! You're not supposed to know who I am, nobody here is!"

"Hopper, my friend, are you aware that I, too, came to the Glade willingly?" Leo asks, still sitting on the floor.

Now I just blink at him. "What? But…" Then it hits. He's the only one here with an Italian accent. He's insane, he rarely sleeps, all the muttering to himself incoherently isn't incoherent, it's in _different languages_. "You shank," I finally say. He's one of us. Not only that, I _know him_! Or at least _of_ him. "Did they _send_ you?!"

"Not necessarily. It's a favor," Leo finally stands up, straightening his twisted, loose shirt and shaking his head as he yawns.

"But you came in the Box before me, how did you know I was going to come?" I didn't even decide until the last moment, until I was basically already in WICKED.

Leo's pulled off his shirt and has a clean one in his hand. He stops before putting it on though, and just looks at me. "Think about who I helped in the war," he says simply. I blink, then remember.

"Okay, fine," I cross my arms. "But why are you here? It's not like I'm the only one of us messing with stories. The Moonshines are doing far more damage than I am right now."

"The Moonshines are always trouble," Leo says almost absently as he pulls his clean shirt on over his head. "I'm not here to make sure you don't do any damage. If I was, do you really think I'd have let you start bonfires and soccer games?"

I don't say anything to that, simply because, yes, I most definitely believe Leo would have let me start bonfires and soccer games, and probably a million other things just to make all of this more entertaining to him. Because really is insane, and very sadistic.

"Okay, fair point," he agrees with my silent protest.

"Why _are_ you here then, if not to keep me in line?" I ask.

"I'll let you figure that out yourself, my friend," he says, patting me on the head once as he walks past me and leaves the room. I turn, watching him go down the stairs, and listen to him go down the other two flights and then leave the Homestead.

Huffing in annoyance for more reasons than I can probably count, I follow his trail, going downstairs and then out of the Homestead, and over to the Box, which is now arriving with the week's supplies.

Just as I get there, the Box stops, and Nick and Alby pull the door open. I push my way to the front and crouch down beside Ben, who's kneeling down at the edge, waiting to jump in and start unloading supplies.

The moment the doors are open enough that I can see inside, though, I scream, throwing myself backwards, shoving myself back away from the box until I run into someone's legs. Even the rest of the boys jump and draw back in disgust and surprise when they see. Except for Leo. I look up at Leo, across the Box from me, and he's just looking down at it, more serious than I've ever seen him look before.

Because inside the box is a frog's head. Fresh and wet, blood dripping from where it was cut from the body.

"Ribbit," I whisper quietly as realization and fear hit at once. I scramble to my feet, pushing my way through the gathering of boys and racing over to the East Door.

"Hopper!" Nick yells as Alby groans in exasperation.

I don't go through this time though. I stop myself short, just looking down the hallway.

"Hopper, what's going on?" Ben asks as he catches up to me.

"How long until the Runners come back?"

"Newt should be back any minute, unless he's catching up with Minho."

So I wait. It doesn't take me long to figure out that Newt might have caught up with Minho, delaying his return. But still, every minute crawls by and makes my heart pound even harder with fear that something's happened.

I don't even realize I'm stepping forward until a hand wraps around my upper arm, holding me back. "That wouldn't be wise, my friend," Leo whispers in my ear.

"You know what it means," I snap at him, just as quietly, as I look up at him.

"I do, but as of now, there is no reason for you to risk going into that Maze. Unless you want to be caged again?" he challenges, releasing my arm. He knows I won't move. My entire body is shaking, from fear and fury, but I won't move from where I am. Not yet.

Some time later, Nick and Alby come over.

"They're not back yet?" Alby asks.

"Not yet," Ben answers. I haven't moved. Ben and Leo have stayed here, with me, but now Ben's crouched near the ground and Leo's leaning against the wall near the door. I'm still standing exactly where I've been for more than an hour now. I've listened to all the other Runners come back and go into the Map Room. Now it's just Minho and Newt that are missing.

"Nobody talk," I close my eyes and listen.

"Why not?" Alby asks. But someone just shush's him, and then they're all silent. I still have to block out the voices of the rest of the Gladers, but they're in a different direction, and a short distance away, so it's slightly easier to listen for exactly what I'm looking for.

"I hear them," I say quietly after a minute.

"Where?" Nick asks as Alby asks, "How far away?"

"A hundred paces straight," I say, pointing in their general direction.

"It's not a straight line from there to here, they'll never make it," Graham says as he comes over. "I'm going to look for them."

"No you're not. If they're dead, that leaves us two Runners down, you're not going out there to get killed yourself," Nick says.

"They're not dead," I say. "I can hear them running." My eyes snap open as I realize what I'm hearing. "They're running away from a Griever."

" _What_?" Nick looks at me.

"He can't possibly know that!" Alby tries to protest, but I can tell he's just trying to use that as an excuse for what I'm saying to be wrong. Alby's Newt's best friend.

"Hopper," Nick grabs my arm and turns me to face him. "You need to go back into the Maze."

"You caged me last time I did," I say defensively.

"I won't this time."

"Promise it," I demand.

"I promise."

I shake my head though, "No, you have to say it all. It's stronger then."

Nick hesitates, and I can see him rethinking this decision he's made. Doubting it. But then he glances through the Doors, still doesn't see Newt or Minho, and turns back to me. "I promise I won't lock you in the Slammer this time, but if they don't get back here in time, I need you to go into the Maze and make sure all three of you come back in the morning alive."

"Then I'm going to need a weapon."

"Go with Graham. Hurry," he pushes me towards Graham, who's already turning, and the two of us run across the Glade and to a storage cupboard that he unlocks with a key. Once inside, he kicks and shoves trunks out of the way and then slams open a trap door in the back. He signals me through and I don't bother with the ladder, I just jump.

I look around the room, barely registering the surprising amount of weapons that are down here. They're all handmade, some crudely crafted, but I find a bow that will work and a quiver filled with arrows. I also find a spear and knives that I take as well.

"Really think you'll need that much?" Graham asks.

"Really want me to go in even the slightest bit unprepared?" I ask in return, looking at him.

"Not really," he agrees, and then we're going back up the ladder that led down into the room and out of the storage cupboard. "Go," Graham waves at me to keep going, but he stays behind to move the trunks back into place and lock the small building back up.

I sprint back across the Glade, to the East Door. The Door is closing and more people are there than when I left. All of the Runners, except for Graham, and more than a dozen more Gladers.

"How do you kill a Griever?" I ask Nick as I run back up to him.

"I don't know, nobody does," Nick shakes his head as we both glance nervously at the door and down the corridor. Still no Newt or Minho. By now, it doesn't matter where they are, they're not going to make it through the Door in time.

"You're not planning on fighting those things, are you?" Alby asks as if I'm insane. Maybe to them, I am.

"Somehow I don't foresee there being any other option," I say shortly to him before turning to Leo. "Leo?"

"I've never had the privilege," he says simply. I sigh. Then I'm going in blind. It's not the first time, but it really is so much more difficult than going in with information.

"You have to go now," Nick says.

"I'm going too," Graham says, finally arriving back.

"No," Nick denies him. "Hopper's the only one who's survived a night in the Maze, he's the only one going. I can't risk losing anyone else. Are you sure you're okay with doing this?" Nick looks at me again.

But I nod. This is just a normal day for me, really. Not that they need to know that.

"Good luck," Nick says as I step towards the door. "And Hopper? Come back alive. All of you."

I nod once to Nick, and then I look at Leo. Him and I both know that none of this has anything to do with luck. We've been caught. They know we're here. And now, they're going to try to make us pay.

Well the people at WICKED don't know anything about us, in the end. They've never been able to figure us out and they never will be able to. But tonight, I'll teach them one thing. We don't take threats idly.

I lunge forward, throwing myself through the Door just before it closes. And then I'm running, making my way through the Maze, guided only by sounds.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: How to Avoid Being Killed**

It doesn't take me long to find Minho and Newt. It would have taken me less time, except that I don't know the Maze. But I make it to them, and I make it to them in time.

A Griever has them cornered, spikes and arms driving down for the kill.

But I move fast. I shoot off two arrows in one draw, then I'm on the Griever's back, thrusting into it with the spear. It makes some sort of awful, angry noise as it rears back. The claws that were reaching for Newt and Minho are now reaching back towards me. I throw myself off the Griever's back, landing hard enough on the ground to knock the breath out of me. I don't wait to get it back though, I shove myself to my feet and out of the way, drawing the knives as I do, and spin around to face the Griever once I'm out of its immediate reach. But it's not moving anymore. The metal spikes and arms are still, the Griever's body limp.

Then there's that moment of breathless silence, when we're all waiting to find out if it's al, ive or dead, waiting for one last angry, violent attack from the beast. But it doesn't come.

Newt breaks that moment when he asks, "Is it dead?"

"Gods I hope so," I suck the breath I haven't been bothering to until now.

"I think it is," Minho says, prodding the thing with the toe of his shoe. Then he turns on me. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" He yells at me. I wince, dropping the knives so that I can clamp my hands over my ears. "The Number One Rule in this shuck place is klunk-headed shanks like you _never_ go into the Maze! Especially not at night! And now you've done it _twice_!"

"Slim it, Minho," Newt finally speaks up. He doesn't yell, doesn't raise his voice at all, but somehow he doesn't need to. His voice cuts right through Minho's yelling, effectively silencing the bulkier boy. "Yelling's not going to do any good, we're all stuck out here now."

Minho glares at Newt for a second, then at me for even longer, before finally turning away and starting to pace angrily. I wait until I'm certain he's not going to yell anymore before hesitantly lowering my hands. While Minho paces, Newt comes over to me, turning me to that I'm facing him. "Are you okay? Did it hurt you?"

I shake my head, but before I can say anything, Minho's yelling again, so I clamp my hands over my ears quickly. "Is he okay?! None of us are okay, Newt! We're trapped out here, overnight! We're dead!"

"We're not dead," Newt starts, turning to Minho.

"Nobody survives a night out here, Newt!" Minho yells even louder. I unconsciously shrink back behind Newt a little bit, as if that could somehow quiet the sounds. "That's why it's a punishment! That's why we're supposed to be back before the Doors close!"

Newt glances back at me before turning back to Minho and saying evenly, "You can yell about it later. For now, we have to find some place to hide for the night."

"There is nowhere to hide!" Minho yells. "We run this Maze every shucking day, there is nowhere to go that the Griever's won't find us! And when they do, they're going to kill us!"

Newt glances at me again, before saying to Minho, "We're not going to die out here. Hopper's already survived a night out here before, and now we know we can kill the Grievers. If _anyone_ is going to kill you tonight, Minho, it's going to be." I can't help but laugh a little bit at that, especially when Minho glares at Newt. "Now can you calm down so we can figure out what we're going to do?"

Minho doesn't say anything, just crosses his arms and continues to glare. Newt takes that as a yes and turns to me, pulling my hands from my ears as he asks, "How did you survive out here last time?"

"I hid," I say, glancing at Minho. He looks even more angry now, and I tense, wondering if he's going to start yelling again. He doesn't though, thankfully. He doesn't say anything. "They're not very smart," I explain, looking back up at Newt. "Whatever they use to find their prey isn't that good. It's not that hard."

"See?" Newt looks pointedly at Minho. "We'll be fine. Let's just get back to the Doors."

Minho finally speaks up again, and my hands automatically come towards my ears. "One problem with that." But this time, he's not yelling, so I don't cover my ears. "We're not in our sections anymore."

"We're not?" Newt looks around. He walks away, to the closest corner, and looks around it. "We're not. How did we get out of our bloody sections?"

"Probably happened when the walls were changing. There's no way we could have known where we were going," Minho shrugs, his arms crossed over his chest. Newt sighs.

"I remember how I got over here," I say.

Newt smiles at me, "Then let's go."

I walk over to the dead Griever, jumping up on top of it and yanking out the arrows, putting them back into the quiver on my back, and then the spear.

"Well now I get the name," Newt comments as I jump back down.

"What?" I look at him in confusion.

"Hopper," he nods towards the Griever. I turn and look at it, realizing for the first time just how _tall_ these things are. More than twice as tall as I am.

I laugh, "Oh yeah." Then, still grinning, I look at him. "So does that mean you can breathe underwater, Newt?"

Newt shrugs, glancing down, "Wouldn't know."

"Can we get out of here or do I need to give you two some time alone?" Minho asks in annoyance, making both Newt and I glance at him.

I nod, "Let's go."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Music in the Fight**

Half of the jog to the door is dramatic enough. We manage to avoid running into Grievers, but only because I've been shoving the boys behind corners at the last second. We're sneaky, but we're messy about it. I can't even count how many times I've collided with Newt and Minho. It doesn't take long for me to be trying so hard not to giggle and burst out laughing. My ears are bleeding because all the Griever noises are hurting, but my hands are pressed against my mouth instead so that I won't laugh and alert the Grievers.

And despite the very real possibility of dying, Newt grins at me until he's struggling not to laugh either. Minho's looking at us both like we're insane – and maybe we are, considering the circumstances.

"You're as insane as Leo," Minho finally says to me, and I lose it then, a bark of laughter escaping before I slap my hands over my mouth and Newt covers my hands with one of his as he's clearly struggling not to laugh, almost gasping for breath at the effort. He leans his forehead against the wall and I collapse back against it, my sides hurting. "You both are," Minho nods.

I push Newt's hand as I drop my own and barely manage to keep from laughing as I whisper, "I'd rather be insane and have some fun than always be so grumpy!" This, of course, makes Newt almost-laugh even harder.

Minho sighs, "We're never going to make it back to the Door."

"What's it matter if we do or not?" Newt asks, managing to control himself long enough to speak properly. He's still grinning though. "We can do whatever we want when the Doors open and the Grievers are gone. Right now all that matters is staying away—"

"From that," I say before he can continue, watching a Griever approach us from down the corridor. I'm not laughing any more. And when Newt and Minho look up, neither is Newt.

"Think we can still hide from it?" Newt asks.

I shake my head. It's not just roaming, it knows we're here. "Nope. Now we run."

And we do. We run fast, away, turning the first corner we safely can. Direction doesn't matter anymore, just getting away does. I know Newt's the fastest of us, and Minho's probably faster than me. But the three of us stay together. "We have to get back to our sections," Newt says.

"How exactly do you plan on doing that?" Minho asks in annoyance.

"Hopper?" Newt looks at me hopefully.

"Don't look at me, nobody'll let me be a Runner," I point out, just starting to get slightly out of breath.

"You're too reckless," Minho says.

"I saved you both from getting killed!" I snap over my shoulder at him.

"Argue later," Newt says, grabbing my arm and pulling me sideways, around a corner. "We have to find our sections."

"So what, we're going to run around randomly until we do?" I ask.

"Unless you have a better idea," Newt glances over his shoulder. I don't have to look to know that the Griever's still behind us, going _annoyingly_ fast. Slugs and slug-like creatures should not be able to move this fast.

"Stop!" I yell, grabbing Newt's arm as I plant my feet and making sure that I'm in Minho's way so that he slams into me, effectively bringing us all to a crashing, almost falling, halt.

"We can't stop!" Minho yells, just as a Griever bursts around the corner right in front of us. Newt pushes at me, turning me and the three of us start running in a different direction.

"How did you know that was going to happen?" Minho asks.

"I _heard_ , klunk-brained shank!" I snap as I push at him to make him turn a corner. "Stay to the right!"

Two turns later, I drop back, break off from them without either of them realizing it. They're too busy running from the Grievers. But without me, even before they realize they're without me, they'll unconsciously start to speed up, out run the beasts. And until then, I can give them a head start, as I let the Griever attack me so that I can attack it back.

Once it's dead, I look around. I'm in a four way intersection. I can hear Newt and Minho. They've stopped running. Newt's trying to turn back to find me, but Minho's not letting him. Hoping that Minho wins that argument, I whistle, nice and loud, high pitched enough to sting any level of hearing.

"You know who I am!" I yell straight up to the sky, knowing that I'm being watched. "You know what I do! You come after me, not anyone else! Because I'm never going to let you _get_ to anyone else!"

It works. I can hear all the Griever's stopping, hesitating, then changing directions. All of them in this part of the Maze are coming right at me.

I grip my spear in both hands, licking my dry lips, as I ready myself for this fight.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Distance**

It's been happening more and more lately. It doesn't happen every time, but every time that it does happen, it gets a little bit worse than the last.

There's the moment of breathless, still silence. Everything slows down, almost stops. The air, the beating of my heart, my breaths as they leave my lungs. It seems I'm just one small notch away from time completely stopping. And none of it registers. It never does, until afterward. Nothing registers. My soul is still, my brain all but dead, my eyes unseeing, my ears unhearing.

Gods, how I hate this.

"Hopper?"

The noise comes from a distance, through water, so muffled and faint and far away that it doesn't really register. Something's in front of me, but it's only the deepest, vaguest parts of my mind that I register it. It's not enough to wake me up but gods, please, something wake me _up_!

Hands cover my own shaking ones, and my gaze finally begins to focus as I look at the hands. I'm not holding any weapons any more, and the hands covering my own, stilling their shaking, are bigger, darker than mine, bare of the freckles that cover my own skin.

"Hopper, look at me."

A hand on the side of my face, and everything snaps back into place. I remember where I am, how to work my own body, my own lungs. I suck in a breath I don't even know if I need and I jump back, my head snapping up, out of the grip and reach of what's in front of me.

Of who's in front of me.

Newt stands with eyes wide and hands raised in surrender. "It's okay, it's just me," he says. "Are you hurt?"

But I'm not paying attention to him anymore. I'm looking around me. I'm somewhere in the Maze, but I don't know where. And all around me are almost a dozen Grievers. All of them dead. Some of them sliced nearly to pieces. I did that. I don't remember it, but I know it.

"Hopper?" Newt asks again, pulling my attention away from the dead Grievers. I look at him with wide eyes and realize for the first time that my entire body is shaking, my eyes are watering. I cover my face with my hands, taking a deep breath, trying to calm down. I let myself drop to my knees, trying desperately to ground myself. But there's no grass here, no dirt, just stone. It does nothing for me.

"Okay, it's okay," I hear Newt say quietly, his arms wrapping around me as he pulls me against him. "We're okay, we made it through the night. You're safe, love."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Silence**

"There you are," a familiar accented voice says behind us, while Newt and I walk in silence. We stop and turn around to face Graham, who's just slowing to a walk as he approaches us.

"Graham?" Newt looks at him in surprise. "How did we get all the way to your bloody section?"

"I was just wondering that myself," Graham says. "You guys okay?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Newt glance at me. But I don't say anything, and all he says is, "Yeah. How do we get back to the Glade though?"

"We're not that far. Just go back there, two lefts, a right, and another left and you'll be back. Want me to show you the way?"

Newt shakes his head, "No, keep running. Business as usual. You know if Minho made it back yet?"

"Yeah, he was already at the Doors when they opened this morning."

Newt nods, "Thanks, man. See you later."

Just inside the Glade, I think just about everyone's waiting. They cheer as we cross the threshold. Because we're the returning heroes. The ones who survived a night in the Maze. And even though it's not the first time for me, just about everyone knows that it's different this time, even if they don't necessarily realize that they know it.

We're given the day off, and sent to the Kitchen while everyone else is sent back to work. Minho's already sitting at a picnic table, eating like he's been starved for days. Newt sits with him, but when I get my plate, I sit by myself, at a table away from them. I don't end up eating. Frypan stopped giving me meat after a few weeks when he finally realized I almost always give it to Ben, so now only vegetables and rice sit on my plate, but I don't eat it.

"Hey," Ben appears at the end of the table I'm at. I don't even look up at him. He sits down across from me. "Are you okay? Really?"

I just nod, because I know I will be. I always am. In the end, I always bounce back like nothing ever happened. Because nothing can ever happen.

But why is it taking so long this time?

"Okay, done," Leo drops down to sit next to Ben. "Bonfire tonight, tomorrow everyone has the day off."

"How'd you convince him?" Ben asks.

Leo just shrugs, "I simply suggested, after the long, stressful night we all had, it might be a good idea to unwind tonight. Have some fun. You know."

Ben narrows his eyes at Leo, but doesn't say anything about that. Instead, he says, "Okay, Newt's been looking over here since you sat down, Hopper. Something happen between you two in the Maze last night."

I just wordlessly shake my head. After a pause, Ben says, "Yeah, I think a bonfire night's a good idea."

I push my untouched plate to Ben, since he'll eat anything and everything. He doesn't this time. After pausing for a second, he pushes the plate back to me, "No, I think you need to eat, Hopper."

"Let him be," Leo says as he gets to his feet. "Animals always eat when they're hungry." I can't help but stick my tongue out at him, which just makes laugh a little manically as he darts away to catch up with Newt, who's done eating and away from Minho, walking across the Glade. I push my plate out of the way again so that I can cross my arms over the top of the table and rest my head on them, closing my eyes. This time, Ben takes the plate and eats my food.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Revelations**

I sit cross-legged in the grass in the middle of the Glade, watching and waiting. The Doors start to close, and on the other side of them, the walls of the Maze start to change. Stone grinding against stone, whirrs and clicks of the Grievers coming out of their hole.

The Maze is dangerous. Especially at night. It's a danger I know I can handle. But it's danger that I don't want to have to handle anymore. So here I sit, in the middle of the Glade, watching the Doors as they close, all perfectly in sync.

Then Ben comes over and holds his hand out to me, "Fire's about to be lit." I reach up and take his hand, letting him pull me to my feet. Then the two of us walk over to the pile of wood just as Leo lights the fire. Ben wanders over towards Gally and Graham, talking with them for a few minutes while he gets a drink. Newt and Alby are sitting on top of a picnic table, talking. Leo's staring into the fire with way too much interest to be anything other than more than slightly concerning.

"Where's your flute?" Leo asks so suddenly that it takes me a second to realize he's talking to me.

"Why?" I ask.

"Why do you think?" he looks at me and grins. I can't help but smile in return, as I pull my flute out from where I almost always keep it tucked in my waistband.

And just like that, it's like that first bonfire night again. It's a night of magic and mystery and sparks flying and drums beating and wild dancing. It goes on for hours, late into the night. It's not until later than I can count that I finally collapse to the ground where Ben, Minho, Alby, Nick, Leo, Newt and Graham are sitting.

"Here, Hopper, have a drink," Ben offers. "You look dehydrated."

"Don't!" Newt, Alby, Nick and Graham all say at once, making me jump and Leo burst out laughing. Graham, the closest to Ben, reaches out and takes the cup from him.

"What….?" I'm almost afraid to ask.

"It's Gally's moonshine," Graham explains.

"Strongest he's ever made it too," Ben says with a grin.

"Yes, well, I may have had something to do with that," Leo admits.

"That explains a lot," Newt says, making a face as he takes a sip out of his own cup, and then coughs a little bit. Leo laughs, clearly enjoying himself.

"Good you're here, Hopper," Graham says. "Newt and Minho were just telling us about your night in the Maze."

"Oh, did Minho tell you how he cried worse than a little girl about being trapped out there overnight?" I smile sweetly, looking at Minho.

"That never happened," Minho says quickly, pointing at me. Newt and I both burst out laughing.

"Actually, I'd just gotten to the part where you disappeared on us for a while," Newt says, still grinning.

"Where'd you go?" Graham asks me.

My smile falters and I draw back slightly as I shrug, glancing down, "I'm not a Runner, I don't know the Maze. I got lost."

"None of us knew our bloody way in the Maze, we ended up in Grahams section," Newt says.

"Yeah, then Newt bailed on me to go back for Hopper," Minho says, waving his cup towards Newt. "Seriously, man, feeling the love."

"Don't give me that klunk, you're a Runner and the Doors were open, you were fine. I couldn't bloody well leave Hopper alone out there."

"I would have found him eventually," Graham says defensively.

"Eventually, probably after he lost his voice though," Newt says simply, earning several odd and confused looks, including from me.

"Lost his voice?" Ben questions.

"Yeah, he was singing. That's how I found him."

"I was?" I blink in confusion.

"You don't remember?" Minho looks at me oddly.

"Oh, let me guess, did the song go a little something like, 'Are you, are you, coming to the tree where they strung up a man they say who murdered three'?"

"Yeah, that was it," Newt nods. Leo lets out a bark of laughter.

"Well it's good to know you have a built-in tracking device, my friend," Leo laughs, draping an arm over my shoulders.

I'm not so thrilled about it, though. I can feel my cheeks turning pink. I don't think I've ever sang in front of anyone besides Leo, and he doesn't even really count. Newt's probably one of the last people I'd ever intentionally sing around.

"How'd he sound?" Ben asks, to my horror.

"Yeah, was he any good?" Minho adds.

"Oh hang me!" I groan quietly.

"He was actually really good," Newt says, smiling. "Most beautiful thing I ever heard."

"Still want to hang, my friend?" Leo whispers in my ear.

"Depends, can I hang you?" I snap quietly at him. That, of course, just makes him laugh.

"This isn't going to turn into some sappy thing like, 'He had the voice of an angel' or something, is it?" Minho asks.

"I've actually heard an angel sing before," Leo says almost absently. "She has a beautiful voice."

Minho, Nick, Alby, Newt, Ben and Graham all but freeze, looking at Leo. Leo looks at them for a second before saying defensively, "What? You all already know I'm insane, I don't see why you seem so surprised now."

"Because your level of insanity just keeps going up higher and higher," Ben says.

"Good, then I'll never lose my touch, now will I?" Leo grins.

"So come on, Hopper, sing something for us," Nick says, turning his attention away from Leo and causing everyone else to turn their attention away.

"No," I shake my head, eyes wide. "No way."

"Come on!" "Please?" Ben, Graham, Alby, Newt and Minho encourage.

"Now, now, gentlemen, fear not, I know just how to get our friend here to sing," Leo grins evilly.

"Don't you _even_!" I hiss at him.

He starts singing anyway. "Are you, are you, coming to the tree? They strung up a man they say who murdered three." He pauses, waiting. I press my lips together and shake my head, resisting the urge. Part of me hates him right now for knowing that's one of my favorite songs. But there's one other that I love even more. Thankfully, he doesn't know about that one, so I might still be able to resist. Curse our draw to music!

Leo continues, annoyingly determined, "Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be, if we met at midnight in the hanging tree.

"Are you, are you coming to the tree? Where dead man called out for his love to flee. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be, if we met at midnight in the hanging tree…"

And I break, starting quietly, not looking at anyone, hiding my voice behind Leo's. "Are you, are you, coming to the tree, where I told you to run, so we'd both be free. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be if we met at midnight in the hanging tree."

On the next verse, Leo stops, but I keep going before I even realize what I'm doing, "Are you, are you, coming to the tree? Where a necklace of rope, side by side with me. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be if we met at midnight in the hanging tree."

I finally make myself stop, groaning in annoyance at Leo and embarrassment as I bury my face in my hands.

"You sing like a girl," Minho comments.

"Well I'd hope so!" I drop my hands, looking at him in annoyance.

"You'd hope so?" Nick laughs. "Guys who sing like actual guys can have good voices too."

"Like you should talk, you sound like klunk when you sing in the shower," Alby comments.

"You two shower together?" Leo grins.

"No!" Alby and Leo both almost yell at the same time, making Newt, Leo an I laugh.

"Then how do you know how well he sings, eh?" Graham asks, also laughing.

"Clint and Jeff do too! He's loud enough anyone in the Homestead could hear," Alby says, waving in the Homestead's general direction.

"Well _I_ shouldn't sing like a guy," I shrug. "It makes more sense for me to sound like a girl than a guy."

"Why?" Ben laughs.

I just blink at him, confused. "Because…I am a girl?" I say slowly, not even sure how to react to his question.

Nick and Alby almost choke, having their cups to their lips and trying to take a sip. Graham, who already has a mouth full of Gally's moonshine, swallows wrong and coughs so hard that his face turns red and I almost think for a second that he's going to throw up. Leo's collapsed on the ground, laughing manically. Newt and Ben are just staring at me.

"What?" I ask, looking around at them all, confused.

"You're a _girl_?!" Nick asks, still half-choking.

"Yes? Why…you didn't know?" They all shake their heads, except for Leo, who's still laughing. "None of you knew?"

"Why did you think they kept referring to you as 'he'?" Leo asks, almost gasping for breath.

"They did?" I look at him. He just collapses into laughter again. Everyone else just looks at me, stunned into silence.

" _You_ knew?" Ben looks at Leo.

"Well of course _I_ knew!" Leo laughs. "I know everything."

"You don't know when to keep your mouth shut," I point out.

"Yes, I have heard that before," Leo agrees almost thoughtfully.

"Shuck this, I'm going to bed. Maybe this is all a dream," Alby shakes his head as he gets to his feet. He just stands there for a second, peering into his cup, before tossing it into the flames of the bonfire as he turns and walks away, over to the Homestead.

"Yeah…" Nick pushes himself to his feet, "I think I'm just about spent too." He rubs his eyes tiredly as he tosses his cup into the fire too.

Minho checks his watch, then squints at it. "The doors open in less than an hour, man. We've been up all night."

"Normal habit, for me," Leo comments.

"Not for me. Especially not after right after a night in the Maze," Minho says as he gets to his feet.

"You slept most of the day, shank," Newt comments, leaning back to rest on his elbows. Minho doesn't bother commenting as he and Graham head back towards the homestead. I look at Ben, figuring he'll be the next one to go.

"Is he asleep?" I blink at his still form lying in the grass. Leo pokes at him with his bare toes.

"I do believe he is," he comments, and I laugh. "Can we just leave him out here?"

"Pull him away from the fire, at least," Newt says, rubbing his eyes. Since Ben's passed out already, Newt's going to be the next to go back to the sleeping area.

As Leo gets to his feet, he rolls Ben over, away from the fire a little bit. Surprisingly, Ben doesn't wake up. "And with that, I'm getting one last refill to take to my room."

"Hey, get me one too," Newt calls as Leo walks away. Only a few seconds later, Leo comes back with two cups, one he hands to Newt.

"Goodnight, gents," Leo says as he passes. Then he turns around and walks backwards, bowing to me as he adds, "And lady." He's laughing as he turns around and walks away.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Truths**

"I can't believe you're a bloody girl," Newt breaks the silence after a while, shaking his head and taking a sip of Gally's moonshine. I look over to see that he's not looking at me. He's looking to his left, at the fire.

"You're not…mad or anything, are you?" I ask hesitantly, not really sure if I want to know the answer.

Newt looks at, pulling his legs closer to him and crossing them as he sits upright. "No," he shakes his head, "of course not." After a pause, he asks, "Can I ask you something?" I'm already scared of the question, even though I don't know what it is. I have ideas though. But I nod, knowing full well that whatever he asks, I'll have to tell the truth. "In the Maze, when we lost you, I heard you yell 'You know what I am. You know what I do'." I nod slowly, already knowing where this is going. "What did you mean by that?"

I don't say anything right away. I don't look at Newt. I don't even look at the fire. I just look down, at the grass in front of me, pressing my hands flat against its warm surface until I can feel the dirt underneath it.

Finally, I say slowly, "Just…that…they know me…they know who everyone here is…"

Newt shakes his head, "You're not like everyone else though."

"Just because I'm a girl," I say quickly.

"I don't think so. 'Cause Leo's different too. I think you two are the same."  
"We're not," I say truthfully. Leo and I come from the same world, but we're not the same.

"We'll you're both not like the rest of us," Newt shakes his head. "In the Maze you sounded like…almost like you knew the Creators."

I take a deep breath, blinking away the wetness in my eyes and taking a deep breath as I look up and over at the Homestead. On the top floor, the light in Leo's room is on. He's still awake, and probably will be for hours longer. For being a human, he doesn't sleep very often. And it seems like when he does, he does so restlessly.

 _"_ We're ridiculously honest and impulsive people, my friend, don't lose that just because you're in the Glade now,"I can hear him saying now, up in the Homestead.

Ridiculously honest. We'll tell the most devout Catholic that they have Satan on their shoulder because they drank wine, not caring that it'll make them fear walking out the door in the morning. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's been done before….

"I take another deep breath, feeling Newt's gaze on me, and finally admit, "I was threatening WICKED, the people who made the Maze, so that they'd send the Grievers to attack me instead of you and Minho."

"You knew exactly what to do," Newt says quietly.

I nod slowly. "I've…fought before."

"Before? Before…before the Maze?" he asks hesitantly. I nod again, slowly, wordlessly. "But how…?"

"I remember before the Maze," I admit reluctantly.

"How?" he asks quietly, surprised.

"Because…" I look back down at the grass, pressing my hands harder against the ground. "Because I came voluntarily. Before John came, they were going to send him in the Box the month I came. But I broke into WICKED, and I jumped into the Box first."

"Why?" he asks, just as quietly as before.

"I can't…explain it in a way you'd understand."

"And Leo?"

"Also came here voluntarily, because he knew I'd be coming and he wanted to keep an eye on me."

"Then you two knew each other before the Maze?" he asks in a tone that I can't recognize.

I shake my head, "I knew of him, he's kinda famous. But we'd never met until I came here. And I didn't even realize it was him at first."

Newt take a deep breath and takes a long drink of Gally's moonshine. I honestly can't figure out how there's any left, the entire Glade's been drinking heavily most of the night. But now it's just me and Newt, unless you count Ben unconscious in the grass.

"How'd you learn how to fight Grievers?" Newt asks after a while.

"My friend was being attacked by one?" I say before explaining, "I've never fought a Griever before I caught up to you and Minho in the Maze."

"But you'd fought before."

I nod. "A lot." I shrug, looking down, "It's what we do."

"Who's we? You and Leo?"

"Leo…invents. I don't know if he fights. We is…is the other people in my world. Mostly girls. The fighters, I mean. We fight…constantly. Every day. Sometimes all day, if it's really bad."

After a pause, Newt asks, "And that's what it's like out there, beyond the Maze? Constant fighting?"

I shake my head, "Not for most people. Most people live relatively normal lives. Peaceful. We fight so that no one else has to."

"Like drawing the Grievers to you in the Maze," Newt says quietly. I nod. "Make yourself the target so no one else has to be."

I nod again, slowly, "It's what we do."

"Is it what you want to do?" Newt asks.

I look back up to the Homestead. Leo's light is still on. "I don't know," I admit. "I've been fighting for as long as I can remember. I don't know if I can stop anymore."

"Why do you keep insisting on being a Runner though? Why do you keep going into the Maze, if you know you'll fight the Grievers?"

"That's why. I can't resist," I shake my head.

It falls silent between us for a little while. And then Newt asks, "What's it look like out there?"

I don't answer right away. I stretch out on my back on the grass, and after a second, Newt does the same, stretching out beside me. "Where I've been, it's all desert. Hot and dry and sand and orange. Lots of orange."

"Oranges?" he looks at me oddly.

I almost smile, "The _color_ orange. You know, like here it's green and brown? It's all orange there. Some yellow and red, but mostly orange. I like it here better. I like green and brown better. It's more alive here. In the desert, there are no trees to climb, and it's too hot and stuffy to have fires, and we're all too busy fighting to have fun usually. And there's no green or brown there. No life. It's all been sucked away."

"Is it like that everywhere?"

"Not here," I say quietly, even though I know that's not what he meant. But the truth is, I can't answer that question for him. Because I was born in a different world. I don't know what all of this world is like.

Newt and I both fall silent then, and stay that way until the Doors open, and then until he falls asleep. I look over at him, watching him sleep for a little while. I wish I could sleep. Sleep is peaceful. Oblivious. No fears, no fighting. Sleeping is where people dream. Maybe if I could sleep, I could dream about home.

But I suppose right now, here in the Glade, not being able to dream about home or go home isn't so bad anymore. At least here, there's green.

"I'm sorry I kept so many secrets," I whisper to Newt, even though he can't hear me. Because even if he can't, my words still have to be true and my promises still bind. "I promise I'll tell you the truth from now on, all of it."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: Empty**

It's Greenie day.

I wake up screaming, the siren blaring, the pitch and volume digging into my ears like spikes. Beside me, Newt jerks awake, sitting up. Ben's rolling in the grass a couple feet away, groaning in annoyance as he covers his own ears, more sensitive than usual because of all the moonshine he drank last night.

I squeeze my eyes shut, as if that could help block out the noise somehow, and clench my teeth to keep from screaming again. Tears drip from my closed eyes and fall down my cheeks. Newt puts his hands over mine and rests his forehead against my head, and I can hear him saying something, but I can't make out the words.

It seems to take hours for it to stop, by the time it does, the pain is so great that I'm sobbing. And when the siren does finally stop, I only know because I can't feel it vibrating through my entire body anymore. There's still the ringing in my ears though, blocking out all other sounds. I slowly lower my hands from my ears, and Newt moves his hands to either side of my face, brushing away the tears on my cheeks with his thumbs. I look at him and realize he's saying something. But I can't hear what.

I shake my head, starting to cry again. "I can't hear," I choke out through the sobs. I can't even hear my own voice, and that's scarier than any Griever, any fight. Scarier than anything.

So I do what all of us do when we feel any amount of fear. I go on the defense, alone. I push Newt away from me and scramble to my feet, looking around, locating every single boy in sight, and then continuing to look around to make sure I continue to know exactly where they are.

I need a safe place to go. Somewhere I can easily defend myself and nobody can sneak up on me. I run through the locations in the Glade in my mind, settling on the Gardens, where I can still see everything and can put my back against a wall so nothing can come up behind me. I turn and sprint over there, keeping my eyes forward. Maybe something will jump out at me, maybe something will try to stop me or attack me, but as long as I keep moving forward, fast, forward, it won't matter because nothing will be able to catch me.

I don't stop until I hit the wall, and then I turn quickly to put my back against it as I slide down to sit on the ground. I stay there, watching everything I can, keeping an eye on everyone I can, waiting, desperately hoping that I haven't lost my hearing for good.

Newt's the first to follow me over, but growl at him. Just like when I was in the Slammer, my growl is a feral, wild thing, all animal, nothing human about it. Newt backs away, his hands up in surrender. He's saying something, but I don't know what. I just watch him as he backs away. He doesn't go far though. Just to the edge between the sleeping area and the Gardens. There, he just sits, watching me, and I just watch him back, my eyes narrowed, keeping track of every movement he makes, and still trying to keep track of anyone else that tries to come anywhere near me.

Eventually, the ringing finally stops. But I still can't hear anything. So I stay where I am, sitting in the grass, my back pressed against the wall, as I watch life in the Glade go on. Nobody's working today except Nick, who's showing the Greenie around. Almost everyone else is either eating or has gone back to sleep.

And that's how it stays, throughout the day, until everyone stops what they're doing, stops walking, stops moving, and looks to the Doors as they slide shut. I still can't hear it. But I do watch, just like everyone else. And then I watch everyone else's gaze turn towards Nick expectantly. He's still with the Greenie, but now he's frozen, looking around. He says something, but I don't know what it is, and I don't think anyone responds.

Then Leo appears at Nick's side, throwing an arm over his shoulders, and suddenly I get what's going on. The Gladers are hoping for another bonfire, despite having had one just last night. I almost smile, because I think I started something. Finally, Nick throws his hands up in the air and shakes his head, and Leo throws back his head and throws his fists up in the air in a clear sign of victory. Tonight, there will be another bonfire, to welcome the Greenie, just like there always is now.

But as the fire's lit and the party begins, I don't go over to join them. There's really no point, when I can't even hear the music. Newt doesn't go over either. He stays where he has been all day, sitting against a tree not too far away, staring straight ahead.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: The Fall**

Nobody gets the next day off, and anyone who complains about being sick and hungover just gets a grin and a shrug from Nick, who, every time, says simply, "You wanted a bonfire, it's not my fault you couldn't be smart about it."

The Runners left when the Doors opened, heading into the Maze just like it's any other day, because it is. I go back to work in the Gardens. As of really late last night, my hearing's started to come back. It's still very dulled though. The sound of the Doors opening didn't hurt. I can't hear what Gladers at the picnic tables are saying from the Gardens. Zart has to yell to get my attention from the other side of the fields. My hearing's that of a normal human's. Maybe even worse. It still scares me.

But I go on like nothing's wrong, because it's just another day in the Glade. Leo lingers around me for a while, but he doesn't say a single word. Not even to himself. And when Gally calls him to go to work, he goes without protest.

Towards the end of the day, after work in the Gardens is finished, I sit on the edge of the Deadheads and watch the East doors, waiting for Newt to come back. He didn't try to come near me again after I snapped and growled at him yesterday, and he thought I was asleep before he left, so we haven't spoken since I told him everything. That scares me almost as much as not being able to hear does.

Logically, I know that there really hasn't been the chance for us to talk yet. Yesterday, I couldn't here, and today, he's back at work as a Runner. But still, part of me's afraid he's been so distant because he's mad at me and hates me for all the secrets I've kept, for the life I remember that they don't. I don't think they'd want to remember their lives though. I don't know what happens before people are put into the Maze, but knowing WICKED, I doubt it's anything good.

At some point during the day, around the time when the Runners usually start trickling back into the Glade, something snaps. My head snaps up and I look at the East Doors.

"What's wrong?" Ben asks, sitting against a tree nearby.

"Something just happened," I say quietly, not entirely sure if I'm answering him or talking to myself.

Ben looks around the Glade, "I don't think so…"

"No…" Leo, above both of us, lounging in a tree, sits up, his gaze fixing on the East Doors too. "No, she's right, I felt it too."

"I didn't know you could," I say absently.

"It's not a magic thing, my friend, it's highly tuned instincts. Even I am capable of that," he drops down from the tree he's in as I stand up.

"What? What's going on?" Ben asks.

"I don't know, but this would be a brilliant time to put Hopper enhanced senses to use," Leo comments.

"Go burn," I snap bitterly at him, keeping my attention on the Doors. I shake my head, "I'm going in. You coming?" I look at Leo.

"After you just told me to burn?" he snorts. I just shrug. It's not like it's the first time I'll be going into the Maze by myself.

But Ben stops me, grabbing my arm, "At least wait until Graham gets back." Graham's the only Runner who's nice to me, but sometimes I still think that's mostly because he was Ben's friend before I came here, so when Ben made friends with me, he did too.

"It's hours until the Doors close, nobody's going to be back for _at least_ another hour," Leo points out.

"Then…" Ben falters, trying to come up with something else. There is nothing else though. Something bad's happened. And it's just not in my blood to stand back and let that go.

I pull out of Ben's grip and start running into the Maze, ignoring when he calls after me. Behind me, someone else is running, following me but not chasing me. I glance back to see Leo just as he catches up to me.

"Thought you weren't coming?" I question.

"I'm more than a pretty face, my friend," he comments idly. "Haven't you heard I'm infuriatingly loyal?"

"No, actually."

"That's disappointing. So do you have any idea where we're going?"

"Newt's section," I say as I round the corner, Leo easily keeping pace with me.

"And then?"

"And then we find him."

"Well at least the plan's solid."

I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not, but either way, I glance at him and roll my eyes. Plans don't really exist for very many of us, simply because nothing can really be planned. Too much is unpredictable.

I stop running the moment we round a corner and Newt's in sight. But Leo sprints, dropping down beside Newt's still form. I don't move, rooted to my spot, not even breathing anymore, as I just stare at what's in front of me.

Newt, laying on the ground, perfectly still, blood dripping from his parted lips, one of his legs bent in an unnatural way. It's not until I catch movement though, my eyes snapping up to make sure it's not a Griever, and see a vine just settling into place after being moved, climbed, that everything snaps into place and I realize what had to have happened, and I start crying, sobbing, breaking.

I shouldn't have come here.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Damage Control**

~Leo's POV~

"Perhaps I should have asked what would happen before I came here," I consider thoughtfully before calling over my shoulder to Hopper, "He's alive!" Then I look at her. She's not there anymore. "Hopper?" I call, looking around. "Hopper!" I swear under my breath, in Italian. Now I'm left to take care of both of them. Waiting for Graham might have been a good idea after all.

But Newt may very well be dying, and I already know what Hopper would never allow herself to die, so he's my first priority. It's not safe to move him, but it's not safe to leave him here either, so I pull one of his arms over my shoulders and drag him up, doing my best not to cause any more damage than there already is.

I find Hopper just around the corner, trying to hide out of sight. She's curled up on the ground, her knees to her chest, her back against the wall, her ears covering her ears as she sobs uncontrollably. I hesitate, wanting to go to her. But if Newt dies, she will break, and I can't let that happen. So I continue on, taking Newt back to the Glade.

"What happened?" Ben asks when I get back through the Doors.

I speak quickly, the words rushing out because I know time is short, as I continue to pull Newt towards the Homestead. "Hopper was right, but so were you, we should have taken someone else with us. Hopper's still in there, I can't get her. Are any other Runners back?"

Ben glances into the Maze, "No…where is she?"

"Uh, first left, first right, second left and two more rights. But—" But nothing. He's gone. Sprinting into the Maze. I laugh, "We're all going to have to move into the Slammer after this." If we all survive, at least. The moment Ben touches Hopper, she'll turn feral. She will attack him, and somehow I just don't think Ben knows how to handle himself against a beast like her. However, it seems I'll have to leave that to luck and the fates.

"What happened?" Clint asks, just as surprised as Ben was.

"Difficulties in the Maze, I wager. I hear it's a dangerous place," I grin. Jeff grunts in annoyance and rolls his eyes, and I grin even wider. "You'll take care of the broken leg, won't you, my friend?" I don't wait for an answer as I lean down to check his breathing and heartbeat.

"Was he stung?" Clint asks.

"I sincerely doubt it, but feel free to check," I answer dismissively, barely playing him any mind. Stings from a Griever are quite possibly much easier to handle than what we're dealing with at the moment. Bruised ribs at the very least, quite possibly cracked, perhaps one or two broke. I can only hope nothing's punctured the lungs, but his breathing sounds steady enough, as does his heart, though both are slow and faint. There's the typical bruising, but no indications of internal bleeding. All and all, this fool is lucky to be alive.

After confirming Newt's survival, I run back to the East Doors to confirm Ben's. Amazingly, he's already back, with Hopper.

"Did you knock her out?" I ask incredulously, staring down at the both of them. Hopper's unconscious, sprawled in the grass, and Ben's out of breath.

"It was the only way I could think of to calm her down," he says, looking up at me.

I frown thoughtfully, "I'm not entirely sure unconscious counts as calm."

"Whatever," he shakes his head. "I got her back."

"What did you shanks _do_?" Minho asks from behind Ben, just entering the Glade.

"I…uh…" Ben sputters for a response while I laugh at his panic. "It's not how it looks."

"Dude, it looks like you guys killed Hopper and are planning on dissecting her or something."

I turn away, gasping for breath though the laughter. It only makes it worse when Ben snaps at me, "This isn't fun!"

"On the contrary, my friend," I grin, turning back to him. "I find this thoroughly entertaining."

"This is way too weird for me," Minho shakes his head. "Newt back yet?"

"Oh, you could say that," I shrug, earning a suspicious look from Minho and a sigh from Ben. My grin widens.

"Where is he?" Minho asks.

"Med-jacks. He's fine, by the way," I add, to Ben.

"He's fine? Why wouldn't he be fine?"

Sadly, before I can prolog the torture and suspicion, Ben speaks up quickly, "Something happened in the Maze, he got hurt."

Without another word, Minho's jogging to the Homestead. I watch him go until he's inside, and then I turn to Ben. "You are very boring," I note. "How hard, exactly, did you hit Hopper?"

"I don't know, I've never hit a girl before."

"I should certainly hope not," I glance around the Glade, filled with boys except for her.

"I mean, I've never hit _anyone_ before. I was just trying to knock her out so I could get her back."

"Oh, I'd say you succeeded in that," I nod.

"Go burn," Ben sighs.

I let out a bark of laughter, "You've been learning from our little friend."

"Well when she says it, you actually cooperate for two seconds!" Ben snaps at me.

"And the next time _you_ say it, you'll be the one burning, my friend," I inform him darkly before kneeling down beside Hopper. "It is quite possible this is intentional."

"What, you mean she's faking it?"

"I wager Hopper would have giggled by now if she were," I turn her head to see if there's any blood or bumps from the blow that knocked her out, but there are none. "I mean that she could be choosing not to wake up."

I look up and past Ben, at the Doors as they start to close.

"So what do we do?" Ben asks once the Glade and the Maze are successfully cut off from each other.

"Take her to the Med-jacks, I suppose," I say, standing up. "Wait until she decides waking up and suffering is more challenging than sleeping through all the fun." I walk away before Ben can say any more than that I'm insane, returning to the Homestead myself and climbing up all the stairs, locking myself away in my room.

Late into the night, there's a light knock on my door. I drop my sketchbook on the table beside my bed as I get up and go to open the door. Hopper's awake, sooner than I expected, considering the circumstances. Her eyes are bloodshot and red-rimmed, her cheeks wet. I immediately look away, forcing myself to stay as I am instead of comforting her.

Then she asks me, quietly, "Do you know how to get out of the Maze?"


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: Bucking Out**

" _Well hiding away's not going to do anyone any good, you know," Cricket teased._

" _What else am I supposed to do?" I asked._

 _She shrugged, "Dad would say to buck out before things get worse."_

When I open my eyes, it's dark. I sit up slowly, looking around, trying to figure out where I am. Then I see the cot next to the one I am. Newt lays on it, pale and still, and suddenly I remember what happened. Tears fall again, but this time they're silent, because behind my fear and pain, there's determination. It's what we hold on to, when there's nothing else. Determination, even if it's blind.

But this time, it's not blind. This time, I know what I'm determined to do. I silently slide off the cot and walk across the room, my bare feet making no noise. In the doorway, I stop, look over my shoulder, one last time at Newt. By the time he wakes up, and gods I pray he wakes up, I'll be gone. No more than a distant, horrible memory for him.

I wipe at the tears on my cheeks as I turn away and leave the Med-jack room, heading up the next two flights of stairs until I'm at the door of Leo's room. I knock, and wait. When he opens the door, I look up at him. "Do you know how to get out of the Maze?" I ask.

He opens his mouth as if he's going to respond, but then just closes it before anything can come out. After a minute, he finally gets out, "Running."

"I wasn't meant to be in this story," I shake my head, looking down, more tears falling.

"We're not _meant_ for anything, my friend, we just are."

"Leo, please," I choke out, trying so hard not to start sobbing again. "I'll leave, one way or another. But will you help me? I'm not a fool, you probably figured the way out months ago."

"I did," he admits. "Are you sure about this?" I nod wordlessly. "Then meet me near the North Doors tomorrow morning. We'll leave an hour behind the Runners."

I nod again, turning and walking away, back down the stairs. I can feel Leo watching me, but I don't look back, and I don't stop. Not until I'm out of the Homestead, across the Glade, and in the Deadheads. There, I stop deep within them and sit under a tree to wait out the night.

When the morning comes and the Doors open, I creep to the edge of the forest, looking out from where no one can see me. Minho's alone at the East Door. Nobody will run Newt's section. When he goes, when they all go, I retreat back deeper into the forest and wait for Leo.

He comes more than an hour later, stepping through the forest as he sings – in a voice bizzarely off-key and high-pitched for him – "Are you, are you, coming to the—"

I don't let him get any further before I peer around the tree I'm sitting under and ask, "Did you swallow a cardinal or something?"

He lets out a bark of laughter, "Just thought I'd mix it up a little bit."

"Please don't, if that's what you're going to do. I think you made me lose a little more hearing."

"Well I didn't think it was _that_ bad he says thoughtfully."

"It was," I nod. "And you were late."

"I had something needing to be done before I left. Are you ready?"

I nod. Both of us aren't bothering to bring very much. Between being made to survive some of the harshest of circumstances and the fact that we're returning to places with vast resources. So I bring nothing and Leo brings only his sketchbook and the apple he's currently eating. The two of us manage to make it out of the Glade and into the Maze without being caught, and we run until we turn a corner to that we remain uncaught. Then we slow to a walk, and I follow Leo through the Maze, around dozens of corners and twists and turns.

"Do you know where we're going?" I ask him after most of the day's gone.

"Of course I do," he says, sounding offended.

After a beat, I ask, "Do you know how to get there?"

This time, he doesn't answer. I groan, suddenly realizing maybe I _should_ have packed supplies.

"Fear not, I have no doubt we will find our definition in no time."

"What are we looking for?" I sigh.

"Nothing," he replies simply.

"What?" I look up at him, confused. "There _is_ a way out of this Maze, isn't there?" I can't imagine what the purpose of putting all of us in a Maze that has no exit would be.

"Of course there is," he says as if I've just asked the most ridiculous question in the world.

"Okay, then what is it?"

"Nothing."

I just look at him, speechless. "We're never getting out of here," I realize, shaking my head.

"Of course we are. Eventually."

All I can do is groan again, in frustration both at Leo and at myself for thinking he'd actually know where he's going.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: At the Edge**

It takes days. Plural. Multiple. More than one.

Eight, to be exact.

We manage to avoid both Grievers and Runners, hiding effectively from both. Not much talking is done, beyond me telling Leo to burn more times than I can keep track of.

"Why are we leaving, anyway?" Leo asks after the thousandth time I've told him to burn, on the eight day. "I'm certain we're all going to leave the Maze eventually, with Newt and the others."

"No," I shake my head almost before he's even done. "I was never supposed to be here. Neither of us were."

"We're not _supposed_ to anything, Hopper, you know that. You should know it better than I, it's in your blood, I had to learn the hard way. With guns pointed at my head."

"I think that probably had little to do with what you did or didn't know."

"Probably," he admits before continuing. "Is this because Newt jumped?" I don't say anything right away, looking down. "He survived, Hopper, it's not like you killed the boy. You didn't even push him."

"But he jumped because of me. I told him, that night at the bonfire, I told him everything. That we came to the Maze on our own, that we remember what it's like out there. I told him what it's like out there."

"You told him about the island though, didn't you?"

"How could I? I've never been there. I've been in the Scorch most of my life."

Leo sighs, "And the Scorch is an ugly, hot, dangerous place, no better than the Maze."

"Worse even," I nod. "He jumped because of me, Leo."

"Well, then, I suppose it's our turn to jump, now isn't it?" he says as we stop walking.

I look in front of me, at Leo, around, in front of me again. "Is this a joke?" I ask, looking at him. We're standing in a location I know _very_ well. A location I know, generally, how to get to. A location in a certain section that I know whose it is. We're at the place where I watched the Griever's roll off the edge of the Maze and disappear. "This is _Minho's_ section, Leo!" I snap at him.

"Is it?" he says, glancing around. And then I realize something.

"You know that…you know that, you know that, you know that—"

"Hopper—"

" _What_ did you do?" I snap, turning on him. "You stalled. You were late meeting me that morning, and you stalled. _What did you do_?!"

"Nothing that will cause any damage," he says, backing away a step. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's nervous.

"Then you shouldn't have a problem telling me, now should you?" I challenge, stepping closer to him, not bothering in the slightest to hide my accent. And my accent makes me sound so much more dangerous than I normally do. It makes me sound like the wild, little-known, mysterious creature that I am. It's a voice that can hypnotize, strike fear in even the bravest, and poison.

And it's effective. Leo takes another nervous step backwards. "I didn't do anything to hinder us, I promise. See if yourself, jump into the Griever Hole. You'll land in the control center, just like you would any other time. I promise, Hopper, I didn't damage or block anything."

He must be telling the truth. We can't lie or break promises.

"Then we can go? Nothing standing in our way?" I question.

He nods, holding his hands up in surrender. "We can go," he confirms. "Nothing standing in our way."

I nod again before turning back towards the Griever hole. "Do you know exactly where it is?" I ask.

"Of course," Leo comes back over to me, puts his hands on my shoulders, and repositions me a little bit. "Now just jump straight ahead two feet and you're in," he says as he drops his hands and walks around to stand beside me, waiting.

I don't jump though. I wanted to go, but now that I'm here, I can't make myself jump. My feet stay planted where they are.

"Something wrong?" Leo asks after a minute, when I still don't jump.

"I…" I don't even know what to say, what's going on.

Leo seems to, though. He pacing, arcing around me in semi-circles. "We weren't written into this book, no. But now we're here, and we are here for reasons. We risked our lives infiltrating WICKED, you killed people to get into the Box. Are you really going to waste it all, every single moment of the last months, throw it all away just because of one small set-back? Do you still love Newt?"

"Yes," I say quietly, not looking at him, not looking at anyone.

"Then enlighten me, my friend. What exactly are we doing here?"


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: Decisions Made**

Grievers explode from the Griever Hole, bursting out, spinning through the air, right at me. I snarl in surprise, throwing myself backwards as Leo grabs my arm and yanks me sideways. The end result is both of us crashing to the ground clumsily.

I roll myself to my feet instantly. That's one of the first things fighters are taught. _Never_ be caught on the ground. You can have broken bones, you can be blinded, you can be weapon-less but no matter what, you _never_ get caught on the ground.

"Get up!" I snap at Leo, grabbing his arm and yanking him to his feet and forward, away from the Griever Hole, as more and more pour out.

"Well I think the record has come to an end," Leo says, snatching up his sketchbook as we start running. "What do we do?"

"Why are you asking me?" I snap at him.

"Because you've done this before!"

"When I had _weapons_!" I point out in annoyance.

So we do the only thing we can do. We run, and we run, and we stumble and gasp for breath, but we keep running, because there's nowhere to really hide. And then they're already on your tail, there's no way to trick them into losing you.

"What about the walls?" Leo asks, breathing heavily, face red. He can't run much longer, that much is clear. Neither can I, but unlike him, I can keep myself from falling.

"Go," I tell him. "Climb."

He doesn't hesitate. He takes a sharp turn to the left and throws himself onto the wall, scrambling up the ivy almost as well as a monkey.

I keep running.

"Hey!" He yells after me. "Hopper!" Then I hear him swear loudly.

"Stay up there!" I yell right back at him as I stop running and spin around to face the Grievers. They all stop, waiting, possibly watching me. If they can watch anything. "You can't break me," I tell the creators of the Maze, my accent thick with danger. "You want me out of this Maze? You want me to stop messing with your cruel experiment? You're going to have to kill me. _Me._ Not Newt, and not anyone else. _Me_. If you try to kill anyone else to torture me or to scare me off, I'll just stay even longer, mess with even more!"

It works. I make the creators angry enough that the Griever's attack me in full force, all at once. Dozens of spikes, needles, claws, drills, and so much more come diving at me. I throw myself out of the way, but not by much, making sure they stay close to me, on top of me.

I twist and jump and dodge and dive and spin and duck, on and on, over and over, coming so close so many times. It goes on and on and one, all through the night. A few manage to die by accidently hitting themselves or each other, but not many. Not enough.

Then the sky lightens and, in the distance, the Doors open, and the Grievers stop their attacks and retreat, back to their Griever Hole.

Thankfully, it's not until then that I let myself collapse on the ground and Leo jumps down from the wall.

"Well done, my friend," he says, kneeling over me.

"Burn," I snap at him.

"Why?!" he almost whines. "That was nice!" I just shrug, having no real answer myself. "Now, on to business! Can you walk?"

"Yeah," I nod, breathing heavily. "Just…give me a minute."

"A minute's not going to help," he grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet.

"I'm not built for stamina!" I whine, every single one of my muscles aching.

"You are for adrenaline though," he points out.

"Not adrenaline, technically, but close enough," I sigh.

"Right," he brushes the correction off. "So keep riding it the not-adrenaline and run."

"What?"

"Run! Go back to the Glade!" he grins, turning me and pushing me away.

"Wait, what about you?" I ask, turning back to face him.

"Oh, whoever's in this section will find me eventually, I'll be fine. Just go reclaim what's yours."

"Okay, but I don't know where I am. I only really know Newt's section. And I don't even know it all the time, the walls change."

Sighing, Leo pulls a pencil stub out of his pocket and opens his sketchbook. "Are you serious?" I ask him. "You're going to draw."

"Remind me, my friend, what am I famous for?" he asks, not looking up as he continues drawing.

"Helping during wars," I rattle off.

"And?"

"Inventing."

"And?"

"Art."

"And?"

"And…I'm out," I shrug.

"Visualization, my friend," he tells me. "I know every turn we took, this entire time. I can visualize it once again in my mind and turn it into," he turns his sketchbook over to show me an almost complete map of the Maze. _Gods_ we'd walked a lot. He turns it back to face him, drawing a little bit more, maybe finishing the map. "If you follow this route, you'll be back to the Glade in no time." He tears the page out and hands it to me. I look it over with wide eyes.

"You should be a Runner," I comment.

"I thought about it," he closes his sketchbook and puts the pencil back in his pocket. "But I hate running, and it would take away from me real work. Now get going before I drag you back to the Griever Hole and throw you in."

"Alright, alright," I comment, backing up a few steps as I hold my hands up in surrender. Then I grin at him, "See you later, old man!" I turn and bolt away, rounding the first corner I know I'm supposed to round, heading back towards the Glade. Towards Newt.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32: Love and Life**

"What?" I stand still, blinking at what's in front of me. I look at the sky, confused. It's daylight, but the Doors are closed.

Then I realize what must have happened. "Really?" I look at the sky. "I'm still alive, the Griever's are back in their Hole, can we proceed with the plan now?" I wonder.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, the Doors start to slide open. "Thank you," I nod. "None of this is going to be any fun if we don't get a little trouble on _both_ our ends."

So the East Doors start to slide open. I just stand there and wait. I see Minho before he notices me. His attention is on someone else as he bounces from one foot to the other.

But then, before the Doors are even fully open, he looks up and freezes, jaw dropping. I can't help but giggle a little bit at the look on his face.

"What's that ridiculous look for?" Newt asks, and he steps away from the wall just inside so that he can see for himself. His freezes, his eyes wide, and just gapes at me.

"Hi," I smile at him, my accent gone, then I throw myself forward and into him, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face in the crook of his neck. His arms automatically go around me, holding me against him and keeping me up, since he's too tall for my feet to be touching the ground right now. Then he buries his own face in my hair and tightens his grip around me, as if afraid I'll run off again.

"You scared me, love," he says quietly as he lowers me onto my feet.

"Yeah, sorry to break up this little love-fest, but I don't have much time, I'm already running late, but," Minho interrupts us, and I look at him. "Where have you _been_? How are you even alive?"

"Magic," I wiggle my fingers at him mysteriously. I just glares halfheartedly at me, but I can't help but giggle.

"Go ahead, Minho, you're running out of time," Newt says.

Minho shakes his head, "Klunk-brained shanks," he says quietly as he jogs through the gate.

"Hey, I heard that!" I yell after him, laughing. Turning back to Newt, I giggle, "He stole that from me." My giggles fall silent, though, when I see the look on Newt's face. He's very serious. He's mad at me, I'm sure of it.

"I…I'm sorry," I say quietly, backing up a couple steps as I look back down. "I'll—"

"Stop," Newt say, and I stop. Stop walking and talking. I press my lips together, looking down, and plant my feet where they are. Newt sighs, "Don't make me work for this, love." I look at him, confused, but don't say anything. "Come here," he holds out his hand towards me.

I hesitantly step closer to him, suddenly so unsure and scared that I'm certain Leo would hit me upside the head with his sketchbook if he were here.

"Are you hurt?" Newt asks. I shake my head. All I have are some bruises and small cuts and scrapes. "You sure?" I nod again. He closes his eyes for a second and lets out a breath I didn't realize he was holding. He's relieved, I realize, as he opens his eyes again to look at me. "Good. Come on, let's go…let's go sit down."

Before we can go anywhere though, before we can even turn, Ben spots me. "Hopper!" he yells, making me wince slightly at the volume. Over the past week, my hearing's steadily come back. It's still not as good as it was, maybe it never will be, but I try not to think about it.

Almost instantly, Ben's in front of me, scooping me up in a hug and swinging me in a circle. I can't help but laugh. "Stop, you'll make me dizzy!" I cry, my arms around his neck.

"Stop, I'll make you dizzy?" he echoes as he stops and sets me down. "You scared the klunk out of me, Hopper! I thought you were dead!"

"Okay, but I'm not, so can you…?" I wave my hand up and down, signaling for him to lower the volume of his voice.

"Wait, so your hearing's back to normal?" he says, quickly dropping his voice to a normal level.

I nod, "Almost." Which is actually surprising, now that I think about it, because Grievers irritate my hearing.

"Ben, if you don't mind, I was hoping to talk to Hopper alone for a while," Newt cuts in. Ben looks at Newt as if he hadn't even noticed until now that Newt was here.

"Oh, right, sorry," he says quickly, turning back to me. "You owe me an explanation though. And where's Leo?"

"Taking his sweet time, apparently," I wave absently over my shoulder, towards the doors.

Ben shakes his head, "Probably lost. Find me later," he points at me as he turns and walks away. I didn't realize until now, but I did miss Ben.

That really hits me, as I watch Ben walk away. I missed him. And I look around the Glade, at the other Gladers going about their business and I realize…if I left, I wouldn't have just been leaving Newt. I would have been leaving my life.

It was easier to leave the Scorch. I didn't choose that. I was under orders. To be in the Scorch, to defend, to kill, to fight. I was a warrior in the Scorch. Just like the others.

But I'm not a warrior here. That's not all that I am here, at least. Here, I'm what I choose to be. A Track-hoe most days. A flute-player on bonfire days. A follower when it's dull. A soccer player when it's not.

If I'd left, I'd have gone back to the Scorch, and I would have broken. Here though…here, I won't break.

"Hopper?" Newt's voice snaps me out of my thoughts, and I look at him. He's frowning worriedly, his eyes filled with concern and fear. I glance down, realizing I'd started crying. I almost laugh at myself as I wipe the tears off my cheeks.

"Sorry," I smile at him. His worry doesn't fade. "Sitting down, right?"

He pauses before nodding, "Yeah…sitting."

The two of us head over to the picnic tables. I watch him as he walks. He limps badly now, and it's clear every movement hurts. Now I feel horrible that I jumped into him like that…

I watch him sit down on the closest bench of the closest picnic table, every movement slow and clearly filled with pain. I sit down in the crass a couple feet away, dropping my gaze when he looks at me so he won't know I was watching him.

It doesn't add up though. He almost died. As badly as he was injured, he shouldn't be on his feet after only a week. He's just a normal human.

"No, love," Newt looks at me almost desperately, and I can't help but let out a short, almost bitter laugh when I realize I'm crying again. Years and years in the Scorch, and I don't think I ever cried, not once, not even my first night away from my home, my real home. Now I can't seem to stop crying. "Come here," Newt pleads quietly. I can tell he's hating to see me cry. Wiping tears off my cheeks again, I crawl closer to him and the draw myself up on my knees in front of him. Wincing slightly from pain, he leans forward so that he can reach out and grab one of my hands, pulling me even closer, until I'm right at the edge of the bench he's sitting on, in between his legs. He stops pulling, but keeps hold of my hand, even taking my other one with his other hand, and leans over to rest his head on my shoulder, releasing a deep breath.

For a few minutes, the two of us just sit there, still and silent. I close my eyes, pressing my lips together, trying so hard not to cry again.

"Promise me something, love?" Newt asks quietly after a while.

"What?" I ask just as quietly. I won't blindly promise. We can't break our promises. It's fatal.

Newt sits up so that he can look into my eyes, raw fear in his gaze, as he says, "Promise me that you'll _never_ leave me like that again."

I hesitate, thinking for a moment that he's lying. Revenge of some twisted sorts. "Are…are you sure?" I ask hesitantly.

"I'm sure," he nods. "I…" he hesitates, glancing away, pain joining to fear in his eyes for a moment. When he looks at me again, he continues, "I don't want to lose you, Hopper. I should have said something before, I…I don't know why I didn't, but I regret it. But I _can't_ lose you, love. Not again. I love you. I have since day you first came through that buggin' box."

"But…you jumped…" I protest quietly, weakly.

He looks down, "I'm sorry…I'm sorry I scared you. But I have…hated this place, the Maze, the Glade, all of it, for a long time. It's always been a prison, for all of us. I thought I couldn't handle it anymore, being here. That's why I _almost_ jumped."

"Almost?" I looked at him, confused.

"I climbed. I was…about…to jump…but then I thought about you, and I, I couldn't do it. I couldn't leave you like that. Even if I'd never work up the courage to tell you how much I love you, I couldn't leave you."

"But…when Leo and I found you…"

Newt releases a breath, straightening up slightly and looking away. "I…lost my grip climbing down and fell…" he admits reluctantly.

I have no words. I just blink at him.

Newt continues, "I never want to wake up and be told you're gone again."

"You don't hate me?"

"What? Why would I hate you?"

"Because…because all of you were stuck here, trapped, unwilling, with no memories of your life before the Glade. And I…I remember, and I came here on my own…I thought that was why…" I pull one of my hands out of his grip so that I can wipe at the tears falling down my cheeks.

Newt catches my hand again though, stopping me from wiping away the tears just so he can do it himself as he says, "You are not the reason I was going to jump, love. You are the reason I'm still alive. You brought life to this Glade, you made it fun to live here. And I didn't think that was even possible. Now promise me that you're not going to let me wake up to find you gone again," he says, desperation and fear in his voice.

"I promise," I nod, my voice breaking slightly with the tears. "I promise I'll never leave you again as long as you want me."

"Good," he exhales, slumping until his head is resting on my shoulder again.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: Roses are Funny Things**

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Hopper has many fans, all of whom are either going to be greeted soon or rendered unconscious because they are annoying me _very_ much."

"Hello, Leo," Newt looks past me, above me, at Leo, who's standing behind me. "Good to see you survived too."

"Well with Hopper protecting me, how could I not?" I can hear the grin in his voice. "So are you two finished with your little reunion or do I have to finally live up to my threat to roast Ben and scramble Nick's brains beyond all hope?"

"Shouldn't you be playing soccer or something?" I ask Leo without looking back at him.

"I _would_ but nobody will join in until they get explanations, and I'm certainly not going to give it to them."

"Would you?" Newt asks.

"Already tag-teaming me? That's harsh," Leo says with mock-offense.

"Actually," I remember something and finally turn to look at Leo, "There is something I want to talk to _you_ about."

"You two were in the Maze together for a week, haven't you done enough talking?" Newt asks, keeping hold of me.

"I certainly have. Farewell!" Leo's suddenly evasive and darts away. I just watch him go.

"Where does he think he's going to hide?" I wonder.

"Never mind him," Newt pulls my attention back to him. "Talk to Alby first, he'll agree to a fire tonight." I immediately perk up at the idea of a fire.

Then I hesitate, "Are you sure? I can wait a little bit…"

"Better go now. I'll wait here for you," he releases me, but I can tell he's doing it reluctantly, and I hesitate. I don't want to leave his side any more than he probably wants me to. "And if you see Gally, tell him about the fire so he can dig up some moonshine."

I make a face, "I don't know how you people can actually like that fire drink!"

"It's an acquired taste," Newt smiles half-heartedly. "Go on. Hurry back."

Reluctantly, I stand up and walk away.

I find Alby first, in the Homestead, where he must have been this entire time. Because when I knock on the door and peek in after he says it's okay, his eyes almost bulge out of their sockets and he jumps off his bed. "Hopper? Shuck, did I fall asleep?" he glances back at his bed as if he'll see his sleeping body or something. But I'm not sure that's how dreams work.

I giggle, "No, you're not asleep. At least, I don't think so."

"You shank, I thought you were dead!" he hugs me.

"Apparently everyone did. I feel like I should be insulted you all of so little faith in me," I pretend my feelings are hurt.

"Mmm, more like we're so protective of you we were scared for your safety even though we know you can handle yourself."

I laugh, "Good save."

"Thank you," he grins.

"So, tonight…any chance I could get a welcome-back bonfire?" I ask hopefully, giving him my best doe-eyes.

He mock-glares at me for a second before giving and smiling, "Of course. Absolutely. Thank God you're back, maybe now Newt will smile again."

"What?" I look at him, confused.

"He hasn't smiled once since he woke up and you were gone. Barely spoken either. I honestly thought we'd lost him."

I glance down, feeling even more horrible than before about leaving. Both before and right now. "Okay, well, I still have to go find Leo," I start to back out of the building.

"He came back too?" Alby asks in surprise.

"No, Alby, I took him out into the Maze to feed to the Grievers," I roll my eyes. At least that answers my question of whether or not he went to his room or he's still outside somewhere. I turn and leave the Homestead.

Gally, Ben and Leo are all easy to find, since they're all together on the Kitchen's roof.

"Can someone give a mini-Glader a hand up?" I call up, since none of them noticed me walking over.

Ben's the one to poke his head over, smiling, and reach down to give me a hand up. I grab his hand, bracing one foot against the side of the building, and let him pull me up onto the roof.

"Builders only," Gally growls as soon as I'm up.

"Pretend she's a builder today," Leo says, handing me a hammer.

"Yeah, see? Building," I tap a random spot with the hammer. Ben laughs, but Gally just gets angrier and shoves me backwards, hard. Ben and Leo both try to catch me, but it's so sudden and surprising that they both fail I just topple backwards and over the edge of the roof, landing hard and clumsily back on the ground, knocking the breath out of me.

Ben drops down beside me to make sure I'm okay instantly, but I'm already on my feet, snarling angrily, animalisticly. Leo and Gally are both on the ground now, rolling in the grass, fists flying. I try to lunge at Gally, but Ben grabs me from behind pinning me.

I hear Nick, Alby and Newt yelling. At Gally and Leo to stop, at Ben to get me away from there. Ben lifts me right up off the ground and carries me away, back to Newt, completely ignoring how hard I'm fighting against his grip. Alby, Nick, Frypan and some other boys are struggling to separate Gally and Leo, but they're both mental, completely blind to anything but their rage right now.

"Love, calm down, look at me," Newt turns my head, forcing me to look at him. "Calm down, okay? You're safe."

After a few seconds, I start to relax, no longer fighting to get into the fight, to attack Gally. Newt nods to Ben, who releases me. I still don't run. But I do look over at Gally and Leo. Nobody's managed to pry them apart yet, and I see for the first time that Leo's more than his sketches and inventions. Despite my earlier thoughts, he really is a fighter. And a mean one at that.

I also realize he's not going to stop any time soon, and nobody's going to be able to pull them apart any time soon. "Leo!" I yell, hoping my voice will somehow break through the fogginess in his head. " _Leo!_ "

The second time, it works. He snaps away from the fight, pushing himself off Gally and taking several long, quick steps back, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"What happened out here?" Nick demands. Then he looks at Leo, "Wait, when did you get back?"

Leo ignores the second question, waving towards Gally with one hand, "That bastard pushed Hopper off the roof."

"Hopper? Hopper's back too?" Nick looks around.

"Could you possibly be any more behind?" Leo looks at Nick.

"I doubt it," Alby comments. His hand's up in front of Gally's chest, and Frypan's arm is the same way, both of them, and Zart and Winston, ready to stop in if Gally decides to lunge again. And he does look like he wants to lunge again, anger boiling inside him.

Nick sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Gally, you're in the Slammer tonight." Gally starts to protest, but Nick yells over him, "We do not attack other Gladers! And there was _no_ reason to attack Hopper, of _all_ people!" he yells angrily. I drop down to my knees beside Newt's bench and watch Leo wipe blood off his face from his bleeding nose.

"Great first day back," I mumble, looking down, and realizing that I'm crying again. I quickly wipe away the tears as I stand up, remembering that I still have to talk to Leo about something. So I walk back over to him.

"No need to thank me, my friend, it's all in a day's work, defending those who will happily defend themselves and all that," he says as he wipes the sleeve of his shirt along the bottom of his bloody nose.

"Actually, I was coming over to see if you knew how Newt could possibly be doing so well after he was so severely injured only a week ago," I say innocently. Leo stops and looks at me, then grins.

"You know, I've found," he turns and walks away, so I quickly follow him, around the back of the Kitchen and over towards the wall. "In this little nook between the Kitchen and the wall, there's, oddly, a red rose bush. "That roses can be funny things." Leo plucks one of these roses, snaps off its thorns, and tucks it behind one of my ears. "Don't you agree?" he smiles.

I narrow my eyes at him. Surely he can't _actually_ be saying he smuggled some of the best in here. That's got to be against some laws or code or rules or _something_.

But the way Leo's grinning, and the circumstances…yeah, I can believe it. Leo's got some magic of his own, it seems like. I can't help but smile.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: Go Burn**

It's not long after that the rest of the Runners come back. By then, I've cleaned up and changed into clean clothes. They go straight to the Map Room, like always. But when they come out, Ben goes running over to Graham and points straight at me. Graham immediately bursts into a grin and runs over, scooping me right up off the ground just like Ben did.

"Shuck, kid, you had us all thinking you were dead!" he grins as he lets me back down on my feet.

"Again, with so little faith in me," I shake my head in mock-hurt.

"It's not that we don't have faith in you, it's just that you're so adorable and small we feel the need to protect you whether you like it or not," Graham tries for a save.

"Nice try, but Alby already pulled that one," I smile, pointing to Alby, who's sitting on top of the picnic table Newt's sitting at.

"Shank," Graham shoots over my head at the second in command. "Bonfire night?" he guesses, looking at Leo meticulously stacking the wood. "What is he doing?"

"I have no idea, he's being working on it for an hour," I shake my head, following his gaze to watch Leo. He's muttering to himself and he's spend the past hour stacking, unstacking, restacking and rearranging the wood pile more times than I've bothered to count.

"Is it just me or is he going more insane?" Ben wonders.

"I think he's already off any charts," Graham answers, and I can't help but laugh. "Hey, where's Gally?"

"Slammer," Ben says, all humor gone from him now. He and Leo are still angry at Gally for pushing me. I stopped caring when Gally was locked in the Slammer. He can't get to me again tonight, so that's all I care about right now.

"Why?" Graham asks, clearly confused.

"He pushed Hopper off the Kitchen roof earlier," Ben answers without looking at anyone. It's obvious how angry he is though.

"I can't believe I missed that," Graham's eyes widened. "What happened?"

I shrug, "I just wanted to talk to Ben and Leo, and he just pushed me. I don't know why."

"Leo went mental on him though, I thought he was going to kill Gally. Six boys and they couldn't get those two apart," Ben adds.

"Then how'd the fight end?"

Ben shrugs, "Hopper called Leo, and he stopped."

Suddenly fear rips through me and I look quickly over towards the picnic tables. Newt's still there though, talking to Gally, watching me. He smiles half-heartedly when I look over. Alby's right, he doesn't really smile.

After confirming that Newt's still only a few feet away, I turn back to Ben and Graham, only to see that now they're both watching Leo with horrified and slightly worried expressions. Confused, I follow their gazes.

"Leo!" I gasp, making him jump. He's turned the wood pile into some sort of…effigy. He's turned the smaller sticks into a person, and used logs to make a cross to tie the stick-person to and has a neat little tent of wood at the bottom.

"What?" he asks, looking at me innocently. Obliviously, I realize.

I sputter, not even knowing what to say, do or ask. Finally, I manage, "Is that supposed to be Gally?"

"Yes," he says simply. I just gape, speechless again. He glances at the wood pile, then back at me. "Too crude?" he asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "A little bit. Oh my gods, does it actually work?!" My eyes widen. I don't know much about voodoo, hoodoo, witches, or anything like that, or even if Leo can _do_ any of that, but this is definitely kind of what I imagine it would look like.

Leo looks at the wood thoughtfully. "I don't know…" he says thoughtfully, and I can tell he's considering finding out.

"Rearrange the pile!"

"Alright, alright," he sighs. "So _boring_."

"So _exhausting,_ " I shoot back at him.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35: A New Runner**

Eventually, Leo gets kicked off stacking the wood. Frypan just piles it up haphazardly. It drives Leo crazy, but that just makes it even more fun. For half an hour, he goes on about how Frypan doesn't stack the wood properly, and then that of course turns into an argument between four boys about how to properly stack wood and pointing out that Leo takes too long to do it, so he has no right to complain.

Then the Doors close. Sitting on the ground in front of Newt, my back against his good leg, I cover my ears and watch them close. No going into the Maze for me tonight. Tonight, I stay. Tonight, I'm a Glader, and these are my friends, my family. Tonight, Newt puts his hands over mine and kisses the top of my head, and I watch as the spikes on one side of the Doors slide into their holes on the other, blocking the way to the Maze until morning.

Then I lower my hands from my ears and Newt rests ones of his hands on one of my shoulders.

Leo's still arguing with other boys about how to properly stack wood, so Alby gets off the picnic table and goes to light it himself. It's not long after that before someone starts in with the drums. It's enough to instantly draw Leo from the stacking wood argument as he comes over and pulls me to my feet and away from Newt before I can even realize what's going on.

I stay close to Newt, in his sight. And every few seconds, I glance back at him to make sure he's still there. But I do dance, with a lot of others. Just like always, none of the Runners dance. They get enough of a workout when they're running the Maze every day. Instead, they all sit at the picnic tables, talking and hanging out with Newt and other Gladers who are just relaxing tonight.

"Are you aware of how that boy looks at you?" Leo asks me at one point.

Slightly out of breath, I turn to look at him. "And how does he look at me?" I question.

Leo's grinning as he leans down and whispers, "Like you're the full moon on a starless night. Oh dear gods." Leo straightens up, looking past me, a strange look on his face.

I look over my shoulder to see what he's looking at, then I jump, gasping and whirling around to face the scene completely, my hands flying up to cover my mouth. "Oh my gods!"

A few feet away, Graham's sitting on top of the picnic table that Newt's sitting at. He has hold of Ben by the front of his shirt and they're kissing. And, strangely, I don't think anyone else has even noticed yet.

"Did that happen while we were gone?" I ask, looking back at Leo, who looks just as surprised as I am – except also very amused.

"From the look on Ben's face, I'd wager not."

And I turn back around to see that they have pulled apart, and Ben look just as baffled and surprised as I imagine I do.

"What are they saying, what are they saying?" Leo questions me.

"I'm not going to listen in on my friends!"

"Oh, don't pretend you don't do it all the time when you're bored. Now, what are they saying."

I huff, "They're not _saying_ anything."

"Dear gods, they've rendered each other—oh good gods!" Leo throws up his hands, because now Graham and Ben are kissing again, except this time Ben started it, his hands on either side of Graham's face. I can't help but laugh, partially because others are finally noticing. Alby's so shocked he jumps clear off the table, almost falling forward in the process, and Newt just rolls his eyes and shakes his head, mumbling something like, "About bloody time."

"We find love in hopeless places," Leo says quietly, with a strange little calm smile.

"What about yours?" I ask Leo, turning to look at him. "You've said before that we both came here for reasons. What was yours?"

Leo smiles strangely at him, secrets and riddles clear in his eyes, but unsolvable by me. Maybe by anyone. "A very important one," he says. Before I can ask him anything more, he turns and is gone. I watch him throw himself into the thickest of the Gladers, shouting and hollering and dancing like wild lost boys in Neverland.

"Hopper," Minho calls, making me turn. He's now sitting at the table Newt, Alby, Graham and Ben are at. Except Ben's gone now, and Nick and the other Runners are there, and Newt's looking very suspicious. Narrowing my eyes in my own suspicion, I creep over to the table.

"What's going on?" I ask cautiously as Newt wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to his side even though I'm standing at the end of the table.

"There's some business to discuss," Nick starts.

Before he can say anything else, I whine, " _Now_?"

"This is her first night back, can't we just let him have one night off?"

"Well, tomorrow everyone's back to work as usual," Nick says. "And that includes Hopper and Leo."

I shake my head, "Okay, but why are all the Runners here? Why _just_ the Runners?"

"Because," Graham speaks up, glancing at Newt. "Now that our Keeper can't run anymore, we need a new Keeper and a new Runner."

"I've been voted Keeper, since out of the Runners, I've been here longest, after Newt," Minho says.

"And you've been recommended for Runner," Nick adds to me.

"No," Newt immediately shakes my head.

"Don't be ridiculous," Leo says, throwing an arm over my shoulder.

"Where do you _come_ from?" one of the other Runners asks.

"There are multiple theories about that," Leo says almost dismissively.

"Leo, you don't even have a say in this," Alby sighs, rubbing his eyes tiredly. It is exhausting dealing with Leo.

"Of course I do, I have say everywhere," Leo says simply. Everyone at the table looks at me, silently asking me to make him go away.

"Oh, like I can get rid of him!" I whine.

"Continue on with your discussion," Leo waves his cup of Gally's moonshine at the table.

Since no one else seems to want to believe that we're stuck with him, I'm the first to speak up again. "So you'll finally make me a Runner?"

It's enough to pull Nick back to the matter at hand. "You've already been in the Maze…broken rules multiple times to get there." I look down, feeling my cheeks turn pink. "And we need you out of the Glade once a month anyway, if we want you to keep your hearing."

"But, I'm kind of a slow runner…" I point out reluctantly as Newt tries to protest, "It's too dangerous for her out there."

Newt's comment, of course, goes ignored because everyone knows by now that I can fight the Grievers, and only Newt knows what fighting does to me anymore. "You're fast enough to make it back before the doors closed, that's been proven," Graham says.

"It's also been proven that she'll stay…" one Runner tries to argue then stops, squints in confusion, then looks at me, "You're a girl?"

Leo drops to the ground, laying face first in the grass. Minho sighs, rubbing his hand over his face.

"Yes, yes, Hopper's a girl, catch up, man!" Alby sighs impatiently.

"What were you going to say, Chris?" Nick asks the Runner.

Chris continues, "It's also been proven that she'll stay overnight in the Maze for no good reason."

"I won't anymore," I say quickly. I'm _not_ losing my chance to become a Runner. I may not want to fight the Grievers, but the Grievers rarely come out during the day. Newt's hold tightens slightly, and I know he's hating the idea of letting me go into the Maze, and I'll have to talk to him later to stop him from worrying so much, but for now, I just have to convince Nick and the others to let me be a Runner.

"There's not really any other option," Graham says. "Nobody's as good as Hopper."

"Well that's certainly true," Leo says, popping up to cross his arms over the table's surface and rest his chin on them. I have no idea what happened to his drink.

"Then we're all agreed?" Minho asks in a voice that leaves no room for disagreements. "Hopper will be the new Runner. She'll start tomorrow."


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36: In the Middle of the Night**

"And that's the last one," Leo announces. I prop myself up on my elbows, stretched out on my stomach on top of the picnic table, and look around. Sure enough, by this late hour, the last of the Gladers have retired to bed, since work begins in the morning like any other day.

"You should go to bed too," Newt says to me. It's just me, him and Leo now. "You have to run in the morning."

"Sleeping's optional," I tell him, sitting up and sliding to the edge of the table so that I can sit almost beside him, my feet resting on the bench he's sitting on.

"You don't sleep?" he looks at me.

I shake my head, my wild, tangled blonde hair flying, "Sleeping's optional. We can go without it for an endless amount of time."

"I've seen you sleep before though. Or were you faking?"

"I fake sometimes," I shrug. "When there's nothing else to do."

"What about him?" he nods towards Leo.

"I'm little more than a human, I require sleep. Though not nearly as much as most do, but I wager that's more my own doing than my…strange origins."

"Your own doing is your strange origin," I point out.

"There is that," he nods, agreeing.

"What are you?" Newt asks, looking at me again. I can feel Leo looking at me too, waiting to see how I'll answer, if I'll answer.

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you," I finally say, quietly, shaking my head with a short, quiet, almost bitter laugh.

"Try me," Newt says, all serious.

"Am I even allowed to do this?" I ask, looking at Leo. He lets out a bark of laughter and I sigh, "Right. You don't care if it's allowed."

"If what's allowed?" Newt asks.

"There are rules," I say, looking down. "Theoretically, we're not supposed to tell anyone about…what we are, or where we come from."

"But at this very moment, four Moonshines, a Lovelace, Cricket and Alice are invading other stories and most likely breaking more rules than even I can count," Leo comments. He doesn't even look like he's paying attention to us, gazing absently into the fire.

"Who are they?" Newt asks.

"Other souls who've made their lives in someone else's book."

Newt looks to me for the answer to the riddle, but I just shrug. There is no simple explanation to anything that comes out of Leo's head. I hesitate, dropping my feet off the bench to let them hang under the table. "I'm…a wood nymph," I finally tell Newt.

"A wood nymph?" he doesn't look like he knows whether or not to believe me. "Like from the fairy tales?"

"Yeah," I nod, not looking at him. "That's what we are. Fairy tales."

A moment of silence passes before Newt asks Leo, "What about you?"

"I am no more than a human granted immortality," Leo informs him.

Newt doesn't say anything, so neither do I, too afraid that that was it. He's finally heard enough. He doesn't believe me, thinks this, of all things, is the part of me I'm lying about and he's had enough, he won't want me around anymore.

"Hopper, love, stop," Newt says suddenly, breaking through my thought process. I look up, surprised, eyes wide.

"What?" I ask.

"I can hear you worrying from here," he says, looking at me. Leo laughs, but I don't stay anything, too afraid to still.

Newt adjusts himself on the bench, turning so that he's actually sitting at the table properly, with his legs under the top of it, and he scoots himself so that he's sitting in front of me, my knees almost against his chest. He slides his hands around my waist, interlocking his fingers at the small of my back, moving slowly and watching me carefully the whole time, while I'm watching his arms, his hands. He's caged me in, and despite it just being Newt, despite knowing how easily I could escape, it still causes my heart to race and my chest to start hurting, just slightly.

"Eyes, my friend," I can hear Leo say quietly from over by the fire, too low for Newt to maybe even know he's saying anything at all. "Intent is in the eyes."

So I look at Newt's eyes. He's watching me carefully, waiting to see what I'm going to do. He knows I don't like being caged. He saw how fast I bolted out of the Slammer when I was put in there after the first time I snuck into the Maze. I gave him a bloody nose, I rushed out of there so fast. Then when he'd chased after me and I thought he was going to cage me again, I attacked him. And I have no doubt either Ben or Leo, or possibly both, told him all the details of how I acted in the Slammer while he was in the Maze.

So now Newt watches me carefully, waiting to see how I'm going to react. I decide then that I'm not going to run away, or attack. Even though I'm not entirely sure whether or not I can control whether or not I attack. I've never had the need to find out if I can control the animal side of me. It seems like I'm testing it now, though, because the more my heart pounds, the more everything in me wants to attack. Or, at the very least, flee.

After a length of time, Newt pulls his hands back towards him, releasing me, and settles for resting his hands on the backs of my legs. "I don't care what you are, love. I don't care if you're a boy or a girl, or a human or a…nymph, or a…fire breathing dragon." I can't help but almost laugh at that, and he almost smiles. "As long as you don't eat me or Alby, I don't care. I just want to know about you, love. The truth. All of it. No matter how weird it is."

I don't say anything right away, not knowing _what_ to say. Of course, the first thing that finally does come to mind is, "Would I be allowed to eat Gally if I was a dragon?"

Leo lets out a bark of laughter from over by the fire. Newt almost smiles again, just one side of his mouth tipping up a little bit, "If you were a dragon, I think everyone would rather you eat the Grievers first."

I make a face, "Grievers probably taste so gross!"

"Probably," Newt agrees with a nod. Then he just rests his head in my lap, closing his eyes.

"You actually sleep," I point out. "You should probably go to bed."

"In a minute," he says quietly. But it doesn't even take that long for Newt to fall asleep right there, sitting at the picnic table, his head in my lap.

"How hard do you think he sleeps?" Leo asks quietly as he comes over, peering curiously at Newt's sleeping face.

"I don't know," I shrug. "Why?"

Leo nods thoughtfully, "Then we'll talk tomorrow. I've seen this before. Either he pretends to be asleep to listen in or he unconsciously hears us and thinks it's a dream but still remembers it the next morning and gets curious."

I frown at Leo, confused and suspicious. "What are you planning on talking to me about?" I wonder.

Leo just grins, sliding up to sit on the table, beside and behind me, his feet resting on the other bench of the table. "Are you really going to run the Maze tomorrow?"

I nod, "Of course. They're a Runner down."

Leo nods, and as the silence stretches, I play with the ends of Newt's hair. After a while, Leo says, "I don't think it would be a hindrance to anyone if you waited a day or two before starting."

"Leo, just say what you're thinking," I sigh.

Leo glances at Newt before turning to stare straight ahead again, "He's terrified of losing you again."

"I know," I look down.

"Every time you go into the Maze it scares him. And it's going to be even worse now that you've disappeared for more than a week."

"I know," I sigh. But I've already given my word that I would be a Runner, and that tomorrow I'll run the Maze. We can't break promises, it's fatal. I'll just have to hurry back. Get back to the Glade as soon as I can.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: Into the Maze**

I look around as the very beginning of daily Glade life begins. The Runners, one by one wake up. Minho's the first, shaking the boy closest to him awake as he rolls to his feet. The second boy groans in annoyance because he had too much of Gally's moonshine last night. After Minho snaps at him to get up, though, he rolls to his back and sits up, grabbing the nearest ball of clothing he can and throwing it at another Runner, who jerks awake and jumps to his feet, ready for a fight. Minho and the other Runner laugh quietly at him as they change their clothes, but the other Runner just ignores them and moves to wake Christ next, while the Runner Minho woke up throws another balled up piece of clothing at Graham.

Graham and Ben had fallen asleep together last night, Ben's head resting on Graham's chest. Now Graham looks at a still-sleeping Ben and then looks around, clearly not having a clue how to get up without waking Ben up. I can't help but giggle quietly at that before I turn my attention to Newt.

I briefly consider trying to slip out without waking him, since he was up so late with me. But then I remember the promise I made him. I have to wake him up before I go. Plus, I'm not entirely sure _how_ to get up without waking him. I giggled at Graham, but I'm in almost the same predicament. Newt's head is still resting in my lap, just the way he fell asleep. Even Leo fell asleep eventually, stretched out on the other bench of the picnic table.

"Newt," I say quietly, nudging him slightly. He jerks awake, sitting up, then flinching in pain.

"Shuck," he swears, his voice raspy from sleep. He rubs the back of his neck as he starts to stretch, but he quickly stops, flinching from pain again. "Ow… What time is it?"

"Early. The Doors will open soon."

He nods, his eyes closed. I don't think he's really awake yet. After a few seconds though, he does open his eyes, instantly awake, "You're running today."

I nod, still sitting on the top of the table in front of him.

"You should, uh…you should go get ready. Minho needs to give you your gear." He's purposely avoiding looking at me, I can tell.

"Newt," Leo says, making both of us jump.

"Ow. Leo, is it really necessary for you to bloody scare anyone who's around?" Newt snaps.

"No," Leo sits up, crossing his arms over the top of the table and looking at Newt, "But it is a fun bonus. You remember that gear belt I gave you to keep stored a while back?"

"Yeah?"

"It's Hoppers."

"Oh. Okay." Wincing in pain, Newt turns on the bench and stands up. "C'mon Hopper," he holds his hand out to me. Taking his hand, I slide off the table and let Newt lead me to the storage shed.

"Move those trunks," he tells me, and I drop down to my knees pushing with my feet and shoving with my shoulders until both of the trunks are away from the trap door, and then I pull the trap door open. "There's a trunk in the back down there. Move that, and then you have to pry a few boards away from the wall. The belt's in the compartment there," Newt tells me.

Nodding, I drop right down into the underground room, not bothering with the ladder, and head to the back of the room, where there are ten trunks, each one labeled with a Runner's, Nick's and Alby's names. "Which trunk?" I ask him.

"Mine."

I walk over to Newt's trunk and pull it away from the wall, then pry out the three bottom horizontal wood boards. Behind the boards, there's wooden compartment. I wonder if all of the trunks have a hidden compartment behind them, but right now's probably not the best time to find out. Instead, I just reach into the compartment until my hand connects with leather, and I out the belt inside.

I blink at the belt in surprise, laying it out flat on the floor in front of me. Fairy tale fighters and travelers wear belts that sheathe daggers, swords, machetes, canteens, usually a small snack bag, and for the more modern ones, holders for iPods and cell phones. My desert gear belt held a pistol, two daggers, a canteen, a roll of cloth in case of injuries or damaged head clothes, and a few vials of an unnamable substance that acted similar to acid.

This belt was already equipped with necessities for running the Maze. A machete, a throwing knife, an empty canteen, chalk, a roll of cloth, a few other things. It's also much more carefully crafted than the harnesses and packs that I've seen the other Runners wearing, and I have no doubt that Leo himself made it.

"Did you find it?" Newt calls down.

"Oh," I pick the belt up and fasten it around my waist as I stand up. "Yeah!" I hurry and put everything back into place, then hurry up the ladder, close the trap door, and move the trunks back over it. "Okay!" I turn to Newt, smiling. "I'm ready!"

"Water?" he asks.

"I'm not ready," my smile drops. Newt tips his head towards the doorway, silently telling me to go, and I hurry outside and to the Kitchen to fill the canteen. I look for Leo before I go inside, but he's not around anymore. Maybe he went to his room to get some proper sleep. Wherever he is, there's no time to look for him now, the Doors will open any minute. I quickly fill my canteen with cold water and hurry back outside. Newt's already at the East Doors, with Minho.

"Morning," Minho greets when he sees me. "You're running Newt's section. You know how to get there?"

I nod, "I remember."

He nods, "Good. Between that and the fact you've already been in the Maze a few times, I don't think you need a babysitter. Just try to remember where you go."

"You don't have to worry about that," I smile up at him.

"Here," Newt speaks up for the first time since I came over. He steps closer to me as he takes off the watch that he always wears, and then he fastens the watch around my wrist. "Doors close at 7. Get back before then."

"I will," I promise, nodding. Just then, the Doors start to open, so I reach up to cover my ears with my hands, looking up at the Doors as they open, then around at the rest of the Runners. Most of them are gone before the Doors even finish opening. Graham looks back at me and waves before he runs through the Doors and disappears into the Maze.

Then the Doors are fully open, and Minho takes off. I look at Newt one more time, but he's not looking at me anymore. I almost don't want to go now. After a minute though, I make myself look away and start running, into the Maze.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38: Sabotage**

I don't remember exactly where we found Newt that day. Plus, the Maze changes, and I'm pretty sure the walls are arranged differently today than they were that day. But still, the first time I see a hanging vine, I hesitate, almost stopping jogging, and just look at it, thinking back to that day. I shake the thoughts out of my mind before they can get too bad though, and I pick up my pace to continue running.

I don't run into Grievers, of course. Since they almost never come out during the day. And as far as I can hear, no other Runner has to worry about running into one of them either. But now that I'm out here in the Maze, I realize that I'm not entirely sure if I can hear the entire Maze or not. I'll have to figure out a way to find out some day.

I save time because I don't have to stop for food, but I'm aware that I'm probably the slowest Runner right now. So I spend my entire time in the Maze trying to increase my speed, my stamina increasing by default. I memorize every turn I make, but I still mark the shortest way I can with the chalk from my belt. Then when I reach the last dead end and double back to head back to the Glade, I wipe at the chalk marks quickly, smudging them so that they won't confuse me when the Maze walls change tomorrow.

Somewhere in the middle of my new section, half a dozen turns away from the main corridor that leads to the Glade, I draw a picture on a wall; a grasshopper. Smiling at my own complete lack of real creativity, I put the green piece of chalk away and pulled a thin marker out from the belt, writing the exact directions from the Glade to this spot on my arm before letting my long sleeve fall back over it and putting the marker away again.

Movement catches my eye and I look up, stepping back away from the wall to try to get a better look. Whatever it is is hiding though, behind the green vines and ivy. All I see is a flash like light reflecting off metal. I hear whirrs and clicks, unmistakably machine, but not nearly as much as a Griever. And the Grievers are too big to be able to hide under ivy.

My watch beeps, making me jump and pull my attention away from whatever's on the wall. Checking the watch, I see that I only have an hour left until the Doors start to close.

"Oops," My eyes widen slightly. "I didn't know this thing had an alarm," I peer at the watch in surprise, but then I shake my head and take off running. I'm not _too_ far from the Glade, I think. If I run fast, I'll make it in time. I took too much time drawing the grasshopper though, I was too picky about making it perfect. I even colored it…which probably wasn't a very good idea, it just took even more time to do.

I run so fast that when I have to make a U-turn around the wall in between one corridor and the main corridor, my feet slide out from under me and I tumble to the ground.

"Very graceful!" Leo comments, laughing, not bothering to yell it to me.

"Go burn!" I snap, but I don't bother to raise my voice either, so he doesn't hear me. I'm on my feet instantly though, bolting forward and to the Glade doors.

Minho, of course, is already in the Glade. Once he sees me, he shakes his head, muttering about me being a Greenie, and turns and walks away. Leo, Ben, Graham and Newt are still just on the other side of the doors though, Ben and Leo talking about Leo winning some bet and Graham telling them both that they're klunk-headed shanks – I think I started something there.

And then the Doors start to close, and all three of them are instantly silent.

"No," I whisper, glancing down to check my watch as I run. I still have more than half an hour until the Doors are supposed to close. And they're moving faster today than they usually do. The Creators are _trying_ to lock me out.

But I promised Newt. And we can't break our promises.

So I flip one of those switches, shutting out everything else. The Maze no longer exists. The changing walls, the climbing ivy, the hanging vines, it all falls away, disappears, ceases to exist. Leo, Ben, Graham, even Newt falls away and ceases to exist. The Glade, the green and brown…

Suddenly there is nothing but this one movement. Forward. Just forward. Fast, hard, unending, unstoppably forward. My speed increases as I drive myself forward, just forward. Nothing else matters more than going forward. I see nothing except the space in front of me, and even that I shut out because nothing is between me and my target, no twists or turns.

Then the Doors slam shut and I crash into a body, arms wrapping tightly around me and Leo laughing and Ben swearing. I flip that switch back into place and everything else comes into focus and I can see again. I made it back to the Glade. Newt kisses the top of my head as I drop from his arms and take a step back, turning around to face the Doors again.

"Try again," I dare the Creators that I _know_ are watching and listening somehow.

"Oh, don't worry, my friend, they will," Leo grins.

"What just happened?" Graham asks. "The Doors closed early."

"I think," Leo speaks before I can say anything, as I turn back around to face them, "what just happened was the official marking of the beginning of a new game."

"A new game?" Graham looks between me and Leo questioningly.

"Of course," Leo grins madly. "All of this is just a game for them. Didn't you know? However, I do believe that soon it will turn into a game for us."

"Ben! Leo!" Gally yells from a way's away. He goes completely ignored, however.

"Um…?" I point towards Gally questioningly.

"They're on strike," Graham sighs.

"What?" I almost laugh. I glance at Newt, then look closer at him. He looks different from this morning. No longer pale, no longer in physical pain, no longer holding his side whenever he's upright. I look at Leo questioningly.

"Oh, look at that, I'm off strike!" Leo darts away evasively.

"Coward!" I call after him, making him cackle. Rolling my eyes, I turn to Newt, stepping over to him and taking his hand. "Food," I demand childishly.

The corner of his mouth tips up and he pulls me closer to him, wrapping his arm around me as we head over towards the Kitchen.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39: Catching Beetle Blades**

Tipping my head slightly, I creep forward another step, crouched close to the ground, almost crawling on my hands and feet. After hearing the distinct sound of movement, I pounce on my target…only to have it scurry away at the last possible moment and causing me just to crash on the dirt and leaf covered ground.

"Oh hang!" I whine quietly.

"What are you doing?" Newt finally asks from where he's sitting against a tree a few feet away. I'm actually surprised he hasn't asked before now. We've been in the Deadheads for more than an hour, and for almost half that time I've been scurrying around on the ground, pouncing – or attempting to, at least – on top of my targets. Targets. There are multiple, I've noticed, and yet I can't catch any of them. I do not like machines, I decide, not for the first time.

"I'm trying to catch these…things," I don't even know what to call them. I don't even know what they look like. They're too quick and they must be able to camouflage themselves somehow, because they're hard to see and even harder to catch. I pounce again, this time landing clumsily and rolling. I right myself almost instantly though, sitting cross-legged on the ground and huffing in annoyance.

"I used to be a really good catcher," I say almost thoughtfully, not even entirely sure if I'm talking to myself or to Newt. "I caught squirrels all the time. I got bit once. Really deep. I think I still have the scar." I lift my right hand up, peering at it closely. I remember exactly where I got bit that day, but there's no scar. I suppose that isn't really surprising though, it takes a lot to scar, or even injure, me. I've never broken any bones.

My head snaps up and I spring forward, pouncing. "Got it!" I cheer, pinning the thing down with all my weight, my bare feet and hands holding it down. It squirms violently under me, but I'm on its entire body, so it can't move. I just peer down at it, and realize, "I don't know what to do now."

"Amateur," Leo sighs, dropping down from a tree nearby, shaking his head in disappointment. He takes the dagger from the gear belt I'm still wearing and brings it down on the thing's neck, slicing through and pinning it down with a painful scrape of metal against metal.

"Ow," I whine quietly. "Well _now_ what do we do with it?"

"Figure out what it is, of course," Leo says as if it's obvious. To him, everything's obvious.

I look up, listening to everything I can hear. I listen to the Gladers, and the small whirrs and clicks of the mechanical things around me that I'm trying to catch. I listen to beyond the Doors, into the Maze, but…there's nothing. Silence.

"What's wrong, love?" Newt asks.

"There's…no Grievers?" I shake my head, continuing to listen, thinking I must be mistaken somehow.

"What?"

"I don't…I don't hear any Grievers. I don't hear…anything out the Maze…"

"What does that mean?" he asks.

The only answer I have, though, is to shake my head and say quietly, "I don't know."


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40: Fifteen**

Days pass peacefully, with absolutely nothing going wrong. Then the days turn into a week and a week turns into two. A new Greenie comes, and a bonfire is held, but nobody gets the next day off. Newt and I become all but inseparable when I'm not in the Maze. The Maze stays silent, even at night, no Grievers to be heard throughout the entire nights. But I don't tell anyone besides Newt and Leo, mostly because not even Leo is sure what it means. Or, if he does know, he doesn't say anything.

The night before the fifteenth day, I leave Newt's side basically for the first time since Leo and I came back to the Glade, and I go into the Homestead and up all the stairs to knock on Leo's bedroom door. It's already partly open though, so I don't bother knocking and just swing it open.

He's sitting on the floor against his bed, using his bent knees to prop up his sketchbook as he draws. He doesn't look up as I come in, doesn't even stop drawing, but I know he knows I'm here.

I don't say anything right away, just watching him. His concentration seems unbreakable, every bit of his focus on his work.

Still, I know he hears me when, a few minutes later, I finally say, "Tomorrow makes fifteen days."

"Supplies come tomorrow as well," he adds without looking up, without stopping.

I nod, and silence falls between us again, and lingers until he stops drawing and rests his forearms on his knees and looks up at me. "Are you ready?"

I glance down before looking back at him. "I kind of have to be, don't I?" After a pause, I ask, "What do you think's going to happen?"

"I don't know, Hopper," he says quietly, using my name for the first time since we've met. "I don't know."

The next morning, wake Newt up like I always do and get ready to go out into the Maze. The day starts out as it always does, but I know better than to think it's going to stay that way. I'm tense and on edge the entire morning while I refill my water, take the apple Newt's made a habit of making me take, and wait for the doors to open. Leo's up too, already on watch it seems. I can't help but glance over at him every few seconds, just as he glances over at me several times a minute.

"What's going on?" Newt finally asks when he, Minho and I are waiting by the East Doors. "What's wrong, love?"

"Nothing," I say quickly, glancing at him and then back at Leo. "I think. I hope. I don't know. No, nothing's wrong," I look back at Newt, realizing immediately that I shouldn't have said anything at all to him. He still worries about me going into the Maze every day, but I think it's helped a little bit that everything's been calm and the Grievers have disappeared.

The doors start to open before Newt can say anything else, and I cover my ears with my hands, looking up at the Doors as they open, then back at Leo, who's watching me, then at Newt, who's also watching me. I drop my hands from my ears and step over to Newt, pressing myself against him as I wrap my arms around his waist, burying my face in his chest. Newt wraps his arms around me, holding me tight against him as he buries his face in my hair.

When the Doors are fully open, he releases me, and I step backwards.

"Come back in one piece," he says, like he says every day.

"And today," I nod, smiling, like I do every day. Then I turn and start running, down the main corridor, then around a corner.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41: Rabbit's Foot**

I make it back to the Glade with time to spare. Newt, as always, is waiting for me just inside. Just about everyone else, however, is surrounding the Box.

"What's going on?" I ask curiously, pointing over at the gathered Gladers.

"The Box hasn't come yet," he tells me as we walk over to the group. I hesitate on the edge of the group, suddenly nervous. The Box hasn't come yet. Either it's not going to come ever again and they'll stop giving us supplies or…

Leo, near the center of the group, looks up and right at me. "Hear anything?" he asks, and I know immediately he's asking if I hear the Box coming. Several boys turn to look at me, many moving out of the way, giving me a path to the box. I hesitate, glancing back at Newt, but end up stepping forward, through the crowd, with Newt right behind me, until I reach the edge of the Box, opposite Leo.

Then I finally hear the Box coming.

"It's coming," I say quietly. Leo's watching me, and I look right back at him. We both know that the day is far from over. Anything could still happen. And we both know that something _will_ happen. Something always does. I reach for Newt's hand, holding it tightly, trying to calm myself down. At the end of today, I'll explain today to Newt, since I know he's confused and probably worried. But right now, I just can't risk stopping for explanations.

The Box comes up, and Frypan and Alby haul open the doors of the Box.

Leo and I were right. Fifteen. It's always a fifteen. And this fifteen, a severed rabbit's foot, wet blood still dripping from it, sits in the middle of the Box, the normal supplies surrounding it.

"What is that?" someone asks.

"A rabbit's foot," Leo says grimly, and the Gladers break out in more questions and voices than I bother to keep track of. Newt wraps his arms protectively around me, but I barely notice now, as my gaze locks with Leo's. While the other Gladers are questioning why the Creators keep sending severed animal limbs, while they've all forgotten the frog head that showed up the day that Newt and Minho were locked in the Maze, Leo and I know, we remember.

Someone else will be endangered tonight. And the Box came late specifically because the Creators were waiting for me. They wanted to make sure I know, so that they can throw this death that they're trying to cause in my face.

But who is the rabbit's foot pointing too?

Newt starts pulling me away from the Box, and Leo looks away, so I let him. I let Newt turn me around and push our way through the Gladers and take me to the Deadheads.

"What was that?" he asks once we're alone and away from everyone. He releases me and I start pacing, feeling the animal in me doing the same.

"A message," Leo answers before I can, arriving in the Deadheads with Graham and Ben. "It's just like last time."

"Last time?" Graham asks.

"A frog's head, the day Newt and Minho got locked in the Maze and Hopper went in after them," Ben explains to Graham before looking at Leo, "Then I was right, it's a threat."

"Hopper," Newt says quietly, looking at me with fear in his eyes. "It was a rabbit's foot."

"Hopper's not a rabbit," Leo says.

"My full name's Grasshopper," I explain, stopping my pacing to sit down with Newt. "And the Creators know that, so the rabbit's foot isn't for me."

"Nor for me, in case anyone's interested," Leo adds.

"And it's not for Newt because he's apparently a frog?" Graham says unsurely.

"Ribbit," I smile a little bit, causing Newt to smile a little bit too.

"So, the question is, who is the rabbit's foot for?" Leo says thoughtfully.

I look up at him, "You don't know?"

He shakes his head, "I'm afraid not."

"You're supposed to already know all about this place!" I groan in frustration.

"Contrary to popular belief, I actually learn very little from books. I learn as I go, just like the rest of you do, my friend." Then, he adds, at the same time that I do mockingly, "It's more fun that way."

"That was creepy," Ben comments. But of course, Leo grins.

A sharp whistle sounds, piercing my ears and causing all of us to look up. "What was that?" I ask, covering my ears in defense as the whistle sounds again, longer this time.

"Theo," Graham says. "He runs the section next to mine, that's his signal." Before he even finishes, he's running, and the rest of us are jumping up and following after him, rushing out of the Deadheads and over to the South Doors, where others are gathering, shouting. Among it all, I hear someone ask in a panicked, loud voice, " _What is that?!"_

Whirrs and clicks sound in the Maze. The Grievers are back, and they're chasing the brown haired boy that must be Theo. I shove my way through the crowd, bolting past them all and throwing myself back into the Maze despite Newt's yells. I yank out the newest addition to my gear belt, which I rarely take off anymore; a collapsible spear that Leo managed to make somehow. I throw the thing with all my strength, letting it sail through the air, right past Theo. It sinks deep into the Griever…except it's not a Griever. Or at least not a normal one.

It's been modified. Made stronger, faster, deadlier. There flesh is no longer thick and dripping with slime. It's stretched tight over some sort of frame. It has eyes now, slits in the skin that expose gaping holes. Whatever's in those holes must be its weakness though, because that's where my spear goes. The beast halts, rearing up, roaring angrily and deafeningly, hurting my ears. Theo and I both keep running, me towards the beast and him towards the Glade, as the Doors start to close.

"Oh hang me!" I swear as I jump at the Griever, gripping the spear and letting myself be lifted off the ground. I rip it out and the new Griever, or whatever it is, moves with the movement, throwing me backwards, putting me further away from the doors and putting itself in between me and the Doors.

Every single Glader must be gathered just beyond the Doors now, yelling and shouting, some at me and some at Theo. But I ignore all of that, ignoring even the way all the noise and the wrong pitches of the Griever are hurting my ears. I roll myself to my feet and bolt, head down, diving under the grasping metal claw of the Griever. All that matters is getting back to the Doors, hang the fight.

But the Doors are closing faster. Theo hasn't gone through them yet. He stopped to look back at me, the fool. " _Go!"_ I yell at him angrily, but he still doesn't move, and I realize that he's waiting to see if I get trapped. He's planning on, if I get trapped out here, getting trapped with me.

But I'm not going to get trapped.

I dive at him, throwing the both of us through the Door just before it closes, and the two of us go rolling across the grass of the Glade as the sound of stone slamming into stone comes, and the grinding of all the stone moving stops.

Face-first in the grass, I push myself up on my elbows to look at Theo. He's on his back, but propped up on his elbows too, breathing even heavier than I am. My gaze immediately goes to the rabbit's foot hanging from a chain around his neck.

"You know," I say between breaths, "those things being lucky is a myth." Leo lets out a bark of laughter.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42: A New Player**

"Well, I think we're officially in this for the war," Leo says, leaning back against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest. We're all in the Deadheads now, the usual group – me, Leo, Newt, Graham and Ben. We are the fairy tales, the mythical beings, the people who should not exist, and they have unknowingly, unconsciously, unofficially become our keepers, and us their soldiers.

"That's the second time that's happened," Ben says. "What's going on?"

"What's going on is that I'm a fairy tale who can burn everything they're doing right now and they're trying to destroy me before I do," I tell him.

"What are you talking about?" Graham asks.

"She's a wood nymph, I'm an immortal human, we both came to the Maze voluntarily and the Creators figure we did it to burn their experiment," Leo says impatiently.

"What experiment?" Ben asks.

"I don't know the details, they didn't exactly give me the opportunity to look into the files while I was in WICKED. All I know is that we were put here for a specific reason, they're waiting for us to do something. Most likely they're waiting to see how long it takes us to escape the Maze or some such klunk," Leo waves a hand dismissively before tucking both of his hands into his pockets. "More importantly, they've all but declared war on us now. Us being me and Hopper, of course."

"No," I shake my head, pacing. "They're waging war on me. You haven't changed anything, you haven't done anything, you haven't been foolish enough to plunge into the Maze and fight the Grievers. I did this. I broke the story, I brought the changes, I fired the first shot that lead to this."

"So what do we do now?" Graham asks.

"Get out of the Maze?" Ben guesses.

"And how do you expect to do that?" Leo challenges. "Do you know the way out of the Maze? Do any of the Runners?" Nobody comments to that, because none of them do know the way out.

"What about you?" Graham challenges in return after a pause. "You two came here on purpose, you've got to know something."

I shake my head, "I didn't even know I was coming until I was at WICKED's door, breaking it open to jump into the Box."

"The scientists of WICKED weren't exactly keen on telling me the secrets either," Leo adds.

"Okay, then what do we do?" Ben asks, echoing Graham's question.

"The only thing we really can do so far. Keep from getting killed."

"Which is going to be harder now that WICKED seems to be upping their game. Hopper is very skilled, but it is possible to overtake her."

I stop pacing and turn when I hear someone approaching.

"Whoever's out there, I suggest you reveal yourself before the beast in Hopper reveals itself," Leo calls mildly.

Behind Graham and Ben, Theo steps out of the trees, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I just had to face one beast today," he says as he steps between Graham and Ben, who move to the sides to watch him. "I'd rather not deal with another one."

"Well at least he didn't comment on how I'm too small to be much of a threat," I cross my arms, shrugging.

"I just saw you fight some mutated Griever," Theo points out. "I'm not underestimating you."

"Smart man," Leo comments.

"What are you doing out here?" Graham asks.

Theo shrugs, sliding his hands into his pockets, "You're fighting the Creators, right? I want in."

Nobody says anything for a minute. I look at Leo, and Leo looks at me. He won't stand in my way, whatever I decide. And it is my decision. Because he's just my keeper. I'm the one that fought to get in here, I'm the one that's been fighting since the very beginning. Everything that's happened, I've done. So now everything that will happen, I'll do.

And any soul I bring into this will be my responsibility.

When nobody says anything, Theo speaks up again, "Look, I know this is some kind of secret exclusive club, and I know you guys know things that nobody else in the Glade does. Whatever secrets you want to stay secrets, if you tell me, I will keep them. And besides, I owe you," he adds, looking right at me. "You saved my life back there."

"You were going to stay in the Maze if I got caught out there," I remember.

He nods, "Well…yeah. I couldn't just leave you out there after you threw a shucking spear through that thing's eye so I could get away."

"That was excellent aim," Leo comments.

"If we let you in on anything," I warn Theo, "you cannot say a word to anyone. Not even Minho or Nick or Alby."

"I don't even talk to those shanks about my favorite foods," Theo says simply. "Secrets are safe with me. I just wanna show the Creators that just because we're in here doesn't mean we're their toys."

"I like him," Leo comments with a grin.

"You also like Gally," Ben points out.

"Ah, did," Leo corrects. Ever since Gally pushed me off the roof of the Kitchen that one time, I don't think anyone this "secret club," as Theo called it, has forgotten or forgiven him. "Besides, Gally's a klunk-brained shank. At least Theo's got some honor. Honor's much more entertaining."

"I would have thought betrayal would have been more entertaining to you," Graham comments.

"Even I cannot condone betrayal," Leo shakes his head.

"So does that mean I'm in or what?" Theo asks before this discussion can go any further. But I'm still considering.

"That would put us at three active Runners," Graham points out, a clear vote to take Theo. "And four who have experience in the Maze."

"Are you feeling as left out as I am?" Ben asks Leo.

"Of course not, because I know more than you do," Leo says simply, making Ben sigh.

"I'll beg," Theo says. "I really will beg. On my knees and everything," he gestures to the ground.

I can't help but laugh, but I do say, "Alright, alright, you're in."


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43: The Beginning**

Much of the next hour or so is spent with me – and Leo's occasional sarcastic, random or insane comments – explaining everything to Theo, and explaining to Graham and Ben what I haven't yet.

"Well looks like you really made the Creators mad," Theo comments after everything's been said.

"They do tend to have that effect," Leo comments.

"They?" I scoff, looking over at Leo from my place sitting in front of Newt, in between his legs with his arms wrapped around me as I lean back against his chest and he leans back against the tree behind him. "Go burn! You're just as bad as any of us are!"

"Ah, that is not true," Leo argues, then grins. "I'm worse than most of you." Well, I can't argue that.

"Wouldn't the smartest thing to do be stop?" Ben asks. "Stop provoking the Creators?" He and Graham have also settled on the ground, like we all have. Graham's sitting against another tree and Ben's stretched out flat, his head resting on Graham's outstretched leg.

Leo shakes his head, sitting against yet another tree, "I'm afraid it's far too late for that. Perhaps that would have been a possibility very early on, but by now, it's more than just the Creators trying to put us in our places. This is a Game and it's already begun."

Theo pushes his hair back away from his face. He's sitting cross-legged on the ground, the only one not near any trees. "Then we'll just have to keep fighting the Grievers," he says simply.

"It may not be that simple anymore," Leo points out. "The Creators are scientists, they will improve their methods according to how we react and what we do. They already have, by improving the Grievers. And they'll continue to improve the Grievers, making them faster and deadlier each time."

"Well it's fight or die, isn't it?" Theo asks.

"Well," Leo looks at me. "There's always the best option."

I groan, throwing my head back against Newt's shoulder. "I'm no good at that!"

"Can you two read each other's minds?" Theo asks, confused.

Graham and Ben say, "Yes," while I say, "No," and Leo answers, "Something like that."

"Well now I'm confused," Theo shrugs.

"You weren't before?" Ben almost laughs.

"What's the 'best' option?" Graham asks.

"Snakes," I pout.

"What?" Theo's eyes widen. "That's a joke, right? Please say that's a joke."

"Why? Is the big-bad-Runner who almost stayed in the Glade with a jacked Griever afraid of snakes?" Ben grins.

"Snakes are poisonous!" Theo says defensively.

"Not all snakes," I point out.

"And all Grievers are poisonous," Graham adds.

"Besides, we don't mean real snakes. We just mean being sneaky."

"Oh thank God," Theo sighs in relief.

"It's a proven fact that scientists are actually really easy to trick," Leo says. "They think they know everything, they think everything is as simple as mathematics and sciences. Whatever they don't know can be solved through experiments."

"Then we just do whatever it takes to ruin the experiments," Theo says.

"Do you have a tattoo?" Leo asks Theo suddenly.

Ben sighs, "Focus."

"Yes, we do the unpredictable," Leo goes on. "They're going to set up circumstances to make us do a certain thing, they're going to try to figure out how to force us into doing what they want. So we anticipate and counter."

"Yeah, that's the part I'm not so good at," I inform him.

"You hunted in the woods, didn't you?" Leo asks.

"Before here, I've been in the desert since I was a child," I remind him.

"Right. Do you hear anything in the Maze tonight?"

I shake my head, "As silent as the past two weeks. Even that one Griever's gone back to wherever they go when they're not around."

Leo nods, "Then we'll see what happens from now. But it is my guess that they're going to fall into a pattern. Silence until the message in the Box comes."

"And then when the message comes, someone gets almost killed," Ben says.

"Hopefully next time we can figure out who it's meant for _before_ the attack though," Graham points out.

"I believe that would be your job, Mr. All-knowing," I say pointedly to Leo.

Leo sighs dramatically, "Must I do all the hard work?"


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44: Secrets of Stars**

~LEO'S POV~

I've spent this entire time waiting. I knew that Hopper wasn't supposed to be the trigger. Just as well as I knew that she _would_ be the trigger. It's in their nature, to cause what shouldn't be caused, to rush what shouldn't be rushed, to trigger what someone else is supposed to trigger. The ones who chose to jump into already told stories seem to do it unintentionally. But they still do it, because it's in their blood. To fight, to rebel, to stand when others fall, to challenge what others fear.

Hopper is no different in that respect.

I'd told Hopper only a part of the truth when I told her I entered this maze as a favor. A princess I served once a very long time ago told me about this maze, told me that soon a warrior soul would enter it, pulled in to claim what's hers before even realizing it. I was pulled by a similar force. I asked her to get me in to claim what is mine.

However, I don't think even I predicted how this would go. Somewhere outside the Glade, outside the Maze, most likely in her own world, the princess that guided me here knows everything that's going on, and everything that will go on. Every possibility, every option, every result.

Rubbing my eyes, I know that somewhere on an island in another world, another girl would know the same. If she knew about any of this at all. But I shake my head, shaking out those thoughts, and let my gaze travel back to Hopper as she dances and spins around the bonfire blazing in the center of the circle of Gladers and her. I imagine I watch her much the same way that Newt, sitting on the bench of the picnic table I'm sitting on, is watching her. But for a very different reason.

"I don't know what's in your head," I say to him now, not taking my gaze of the girl that's set the Glade in flames, "But I suggest you put it out before it damages you."

"What are you talking about?" he asks, looking at me. There's no mistake that I'm talking to him, we're the only two sitting. The high energy bursting from Hopper has even gotten the Runners on their feet and around the fire.

"Hopper came back, mate," I remind him. "And she promised you that she wouldn't leave you again so long as you want her. People like her and me, we don't break our promises. We can't. It will kill us."

He doesn't say anything. He looks away from me, back at her, and I take this chance to look at him. He still gazes at her the way he always has. She is his salvation, his reason for still being alive, his full moon, his Hopper.

"She came here for you," I tell him, looking away. Why shouldn't I? We've already told him so much, blasted apart so many rules, nearly shredded the story. A few more scorch marks won't do any more damage. Perhaps they might even help.

"What?" Newt looks at me again.

"The reason fought her way through WICKED and jumped into the Box was because she was looking for you," I frown down at my empty cup. "That's unfortunate."

Newt drops his half-full cup into my empty one, taking away my excuse to get up and get a refill. He wants answers. Life is in his eyes for one of the first times since the shank jumped.

"We knew each other before I came to the Maze?" he asks me, turned to face me.

I take a sip of his moonshine simply to prolong an answer. "No," I tell him. "You two have never met before she came here."

"You're lying," he accuses.

"We can't lie either."

"You'll die if you do that too?"

"Well, no," I shrug. "But lying's as pleasant as a sting from a Griever, let's put it that way."

"Then…"

I speak again before he can continue, "In our world, we don't have boyfriends or girlfriends or fiancées or spouses. Most like her don't even know the meanings of the words. I doubt she does."

"Then what do you have?" he asks, puzzled.

"Soulmates," I tell him simply, setting down the cups and jumping to my feet, walking away and leaving him alone for that to click into his brain.

I walk over to Hopper, snatching the flute right out of her hand as she plays it.

"Hey!" she protests, lunging for the instrument. Grinning, I hold it up over my head. "That is cheating!" she declares, crossing her arms.

"That is using my advantages to my, uh, advantage," I frown.

"I thought you were supposed to be a genius," she giggles.

"Oh quiet," I grab her arm and move her, turning us both so that I can look at Newt without being obvious.

"What are you doing?" she demands.

"Watching," I tell her simply, shoving the flute in my back pocket. "I told Newt that you came into the Maze to find him, so expect questions about that."

"Oh yes, as if the wood nymph detail wasn't odd enough, you want me to explain magic now?"

"It's not magic, it's Bonds."

"Which is magic."

"But a different kind."

"Oh hang me," she sighs.

"All that stress he's putting himself under is going to kill him," I say, looking down at her. "It almost has once already." It probably would have if not for roses.

"He's more broken than I could have guessed," she sighs, sinking down to crouch down in the grass.

"If a Glader kicks you, I'm starting a soccer game and using you as the ball," I inform her as I crouch down in front of her. "He clings to you for strength. The stronger you are, the stronger he'll be."

"I am being strong though."

"Soon, you'll need to be stronger." I look over her shoulder, at Newt. He glances away as a drunk Glader slams into the picnic table, but his gaze quickly goes back to Hopper. "Or perhaps weaker."

"Hang me, the insanity's back."

"My friend, it never left," I grin, springing to my feet and turning away without another word.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45: The Pattern**

The next time supplies come, they come late again. Instead of coming in the afternoon like they used to, they come in the early evening, right after I get back to the Glade from running the Maze. I slow as I get to the Glade, noticing the Gladers crowded around the Box, knowing immediately what it means.

"It hasn't come yet, has it?" I ask Newt as I reach him.

"Not yet, love," he shakes his head.

"I should go to the map room first, right?" I ask, not even sure if I'm asking him or myself or anyone at all. I just don't want to see whatever dead animal limb is probably in that Box.

But Newt does answer, putting his hand on the small of my back, "Yeah. Your job comes first, right, love?"

I can't help but smile a little bit, nodding, "Right. Come on," I grab his hand before he can desert me like he has a habit of doing when I go into the Map Room. It's Runners and leader (and second-in-command) only, he claims, so he's not allowed in anymore. But Newt used to be a Runner, plus I never like being away from him and I've been away from him all day already. I hate mapping the Maze when I come back, just because it keeps me away from him longer. So this time, I drag him with me, ignoring his protests.

"They're all busy anyway," I reason as I unlock the Map Room door. Behind me, I can hear the Box coming up. But I pretend I don't hear anything, and pull the door open. "Nobody's even going to notice." I pull him inside before he can protest anymore. Signing in defeat, he leans back against the table while I get yesterday's map, a fresh sheet of paper, and a pencil, and then I go and sit down on top of the table to draw out the map.

Before I'm even done, Graham comes into the Map Room, "There you are."

"Here I am," I say without looking up. I almost don't even want to know what happened out there. I blocked out the voices out there so that I wouldn't have to hear.

"It was a wolf this time," Graham says, thankfully sparing any graphic or gorey details.

"Is there anyone here named Wolf?" I ask, looking up, and trying to think for myself if I can remember anyone being called wolf.

"Not that I know," Graham shakes his head.

"I don't think so," Newt says. "Are all the Runners back?"

"Not Theo."

"No," Theo pulls open the Map Room door, breathing heavily, "I'm here. Sorry. Did the Box already come?"

"Yeah, it's a wolf this time," Graham tells him.

"Like in your dreams?" Theo asks as he gets what he needs to make his map.

"Your dreams?" I look at Graham.

"Yeah, sometimes I dream about wolves. The Creators couldn't know that though, could they?" Graham wonders.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did," Leo says as he comes in.

"You're not allowed to be in here," Newt says.

"Neither are you, you're not a Runner anymore," Leo points out, grinning. I throw my pencil at him like a dart, but unfortunately he ducks.

"Are you done?" Newt asks me.

"Yeah," I slide off the table. "Food time."

"Wait, so I'm next?" Graham asks, slight panic in his voice.

Leo claps him on the shoulder, grinning, "Looks like it, my friend!"

By the time the Doors are supposed to close, almost everyone's eating dinner, scattered around at the picnic tables. Newt, Theo, Ben, Graham, Leo and I are all sitting together at one. When my watch beeps to mark the hour, we all stop eating and look up, at all of the Doors, waiting to see if they'll close. Amazingly, they door. All the way, with no Grievers jumping through them at the last moment like I have a habit of doing occasionally.

Once the doors are closed, all eyes turn to me, as I listen out to the Maze. After a minute, I shake my head, "Nothing."

"There it is," Leo says, as if all questions were just answered. Now we all look at him.

"They're going to wait until tomorrow to attack. When they have the whole shuckin' day."

"Great," Graham sighs bitterly.


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46: Impulse**

The next morning, everything starts normal. The Runners and Newt get up. The Runners get ready to run the Maze. Everyone takes their positions, and I cover my ears as the Doors start to open. Newt rests his hands over mind like he often does, and rests his head on top of mine, making me smile.

Suddenly a hand wraps around my arm and yanks my sideways though, away from Newt. "Switch with Graham, now!" Leo whispers quickly in my ear. Graham's about to leave, so I bolt, not even taking the time to say bye to Newt, racing across the Glade. I get to Graham just before he goes through the Doors though, and grab his arm, yanking him back. "Go, take my section!" I hiss at him just as quietly as Leo whispered to me. He doesn't question, he just turns and races across the Glade to run my section instead, and I dart into the Maze, catching up with Theo so that he can tell me which way's Graham's section.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Theo asks.

"It's Leo's," I admit, and Theo visibly flinches at that idea.

"Be careful," he tells me, pointing to tell me when to turn. So I turn and plunge into Graham's section.

Halfway through the day, when I'm nice and deep in the Maze, that's when the first Griever appears. It looks just like the last one. Modified, but not perfected. It can still be beat. Everything can be beat.

It lunges from around the corner, where it was sitting silent and waiting, playing dead. It's not playing dead anymore. It springs out and lunges at me so suddenly and fast that I throw myself forward, diving under it, and jam one of my daggers up into its underside. It rears up angrily, letting out a terribly violent and ear-piercing roar as I roll to my feet. I flinch against the sound, but otherwise ignore it, pulling the collapsible spear off my belt and snapping it open, gripping it in both my hands and pointing it right at the Griever as it turns around to face me again.

It lets out a strange, metallic sort of growl, and between clenched teeth, I'm growling lowly in the back of my throat too. It doesn't move. It's waiting, watching, calculating. Grievers are no longer masses of flesh. They are computers. I smirk to hide how much that terrifies me, and I close my eyes.

I listen to the whirrs and clicks, the slow, brief scrape of metal against stone as it shifts. I wait, and it waits, both of us waiting for the other to make the first move. But I won't make it, because I'm biding for time. And maybe it is too. Holding me out here by not holding me at all, through the day until the Doors are closed, and I'll be trapped out here.

The Griever launches into motion, and my eyes snap open, and nothing else exists except the fight.

"Hopper!" Theo's voice snaps me back to life. I'm still in the fight, but now I remember everything else too. I hear the grinding of stone against stone. The Doors are closing, the walls changing, I'm out of time.

I yank my spear out of the Griever, letting myself drop to the ground and bolt to Theo, and then the two of us are running, right through the rotating walls, taking the shortest route we can back to the Glade. The Doors are in sight, but at an angle, I can't see who's waiting for us on the other side, but it doesn't matter because I already know.

"Go!" Theo shoves me ahead of him when we're right there, almost right through the Doors, and I crash into someone, and then Theo crashes into me, and the three of us go sprawling to the ground as the Doors slam shut behind us.

For the first time, Leo's not the first to laugh. I am. Laughing wildly and madly, my eyes watering with the force of it. "Oh shuck," Theo starts laughing too, sprawled out on his back on the grass just a foot away. And of course Leo starts laughing loudly, madly, and before long, so is Graham and Ben. And Newt, having propped himself up on one elbow on the other side of me, is just looking at us all oddly. But then he's laughing too, and that just makes me laugh even harder.

"Someone mind telling me what's going on here?" Minho's voice cuts through the laughter, instantly silencing us all.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47: Hanging Tree**

Of course, Leo starts laughing again after only a few seconds. But Newt, Theo, and I swallow our giggles as we stand up. I don't dare look away from Minho, but I'm pretty sure all of the boys are fighting back grins just as hard as I am. Except Leo, of course, who's not bothering to fight back anything.

"Um…" I burst out giggling. But Minho looks really angry, so I quickly swallow the giggles again. "We, um…" I'm not even sure what to say.

"Why did you and Graham switch sections?" he demands.

"He made me!" I point at Leo.

"Hey!" he protests, but he has no good argument for it.

"You didn't fight it," Minho points out. "You ran to Graham's section on your own and he ran to yours on his own."

"Then why isn't he getting in trouble?" I ask.

"Don't throw me under the bus!" Graham protests.

"Well I have to drag _someone_ down with me! I will not go down alone!" I yell, stomping one foot and raising one fist in the air, making Leo burst into laughter again. Newt turns his head away, rubbing his hand over his mouth, but I can _see_ the grin he's trying to hide. Ben's no longer looking at any of us. He's turned his back, and I can see his shoulder shaking with laughter. I grin triumphantly as I turn back to Minho. But then my grin drops and I let my hand fall back to my side.

He's _really_ mad.

I dart backwards, hiding behind Newt. A Griever, I can handle. But Minho has the power to lock me in the Slammer.

"And why were you two late?" Minho asks, looking between me and Ben.

"It's my fault," I say quickly, still half-hiding behind Newt. "Theo just came to make sure I was still alive, that's why he was late."

"And your excuse?"

"I was fighting a Griever."

"Grievers. There were two," Theo corrects.

"There were?" I look at him.

"Do you pay attention to _anything_?" Ben wonders, having composed himself enough to rejoin the conversation.

"Not really," I admit, shaking my head. And, of course, that makes Ben laugh again.

At least, until Minho says, "The six of you are keeping some kind of secret and I want to know what it is. Or I'll make sure you all end up in the Slammer for days." Suddenly everyone's serious.

"You'd lose half your Runners!" Graham argues. Newt reaches back and grabs my wrist, as if knowing how much I want to turn and run right now.

"I'll make do," Minho says angrily. Graham looks at Leo almost desperately.

"I could knock him out," Leo suggests, making Graham sigh.

"I actually like that idea," Theo comments.

"Not helping," Ben hisses at him.

"Even if secrets are being kept, it's not doing anyone any harm," Newt speaks up.

"They're breaking rules! _She_ has been since she got here!" Minho gestures to me, making me jump and shrink back even more behind Newt.

"Okay," Ben speaks up before anything else can be said and an argument – or a fight, by the looks of Leo – can break out. "Look, let's just tell him. Another Runner means more ground covered, right? And other than Newt, he's been here longer than any of the rest of us. He could help us identify targets."

"We are getting around to telling far too many people for comfort," Leo comments, but doesn't protest.

"Well I don't see how we have much of a choice. We need someone higher up in on this, or, yeah, we're all going to end up moving our sleeping bags into the Slammer," Ben points out. "I vote we should tell Nick and Alby too."

"Alby would never believe any of this," Newt puts in.

"Well someone better tell me _something_ ," Minho snaps impatiently.

Leo, of course, looks at me, "Your call, my friend."

"Anything to keep me out of the Slammer," I shake my head quickly.

"Can it wait until we get food though?" Theo asks. "I'm starving."


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48:**

"He's going to lock us all in the Slammer," I say, convinced of it, as I sit with Newt and Theo at a picnic table, eating dinner. Theo and I have already gone to the Map Room to map out our sections for today, which Graham did earlier, when he first came back.

Ben, Leo and Graham are over near the Deadheads, explaining everything to Minho. Leo shooed the three of us away.

"Well what are they saying? You can hear them, can't you?" Theo asks.

"Yes, but I'm not daring to listen. He's going to lock us in the Slammer, I just know it. Or me, at least, I started all this."

"Calm down, love," Newt says. "None of these shanks are going to lock you in the Slammer again, I'll make sure of it."  
"You two are sickening," Theo comments, looking at us with a bored expression. I just stick my tongue out at him.

"You're just jealous you don't have your won boyfriend," I declare haughtily.

Theo just snorts, "Yeah, sure."

I look past Theo again, at the others. Minho's expression is infuriatingly unreadable, and I'm still too terrified to listen in on what's going on. "He's going to lock us all in the Slammer," I nod. Theo pushes his plate to the side and slams his forehead on the table. Newt just rubs circles on my back with one hand.

When we finish eating, we toss out our plates in the garbage and go over to join the others on the edge of the Deadheads, me hiding behind Newt of course.

"So was—" Theo starts to ask, then stops when he glances at me and sees me hiding behind Newt. "Are you sure you're not 9?"

"Why does my guessed age keep getting younger?!" I whine.

"I'd wager it's because you're hiding behind the big-bad-best-friend of the second-in-command, my friend," Leo comments. I just stick my tongue out at him, making him grin. "And to answer your question, yes, we've explained everything."

"And?" Theo asks, turning his question to Minho instead.

"And what?" Minho shrugs.

"And…and what?" Theo blinks at him. "All that, and…you have nothing to say?" Theo asks skeptically.

"At least tell us you're not going to lock us in the Slammer," Graham suggests, glancing at me.

"I'm not going to lock you in the Slammer," Minho sighs.

"Promise," I demand stubbornly, suddenly very aware that I really _do_ sound like a child.

"I promise."

"You have to say it all, it's stronger that way."

Minho looks at Newt, silently begging him to control me or something.

But Newt just says, "Promise her." I grin, Theo fakes-gagging, and Leo laughs.

Minho sighs, "Fine, I promise I won't lock any of you in the Slammer. Good that?"

I nod, smiling, "Good that."

"So are you going to help us or what?" Theo asks.

Minho shakes his head though, "I'm not as suicidal as the rest of you. You want to provoke the Creators and get yourselves killed, I won't stand in your way. But I'm not helping." With that, he turns and walks away.

"Seriously?" Theo says after Minho's gone. "That's it? All that and he just…walks away?"

I finally come out from behind Newt, standing beside him instead, as Leo says, "Oh, well we didn't tell him _everything._ We may have left out a few details."

"Like Hopper being a wood nymph," Graham says.

"And that you Hopper and Leo remember life before the Glade," Ben nods.

"Then you don't think we can trust Minho?" I wonder.

"Despite being a Runner, Minho's accepted his fate as a Glader. You heard him, he's not going to help us keep each other alive," Leo says simply, nodding towards Minho's retreating form.

"Well at least this decreases our chances of getting locked up," Ben shrugs.

"Point for us then!" I cheer, throwing both hands up into the air. Newt has to duck away from me to avoid being hit.

"And you wonder why everyone thought you were a kid for so long?" Graham comments, so I just childishly stick my tongue out at him.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49: Rats**

~LEO'S POV~

From my bedroom window, I watch Graham, Theo, and Hopper leave, running into the Maze to complete their daily job. Today I know they'll all be safe. The supply box hasn't come back with a message yet, and won't for a few more days.

I turn my attention to Newt, standing just inside the East Doors. I can see the deep breath he takes, I watch him look around, then go to the Gardens, where he's worked as a Track-hoe since he's been healthy enough to. He and Hopper switched jobs after he jumped and her and I left for a time. While everyone else is working, I go back to my bed to try to a couple hours' worth of sleep.

I sleep at restlessly as always until someone knocks on my door. Growling in annoyance, I roll off my bed, thumping heavily to the ground. Swearing in multiple languages, I clamber to my feet and go to open the door.

Surprisingly, Newt's on the other side. Usually when he's missing Hopper too much, he'll bug Ben, knowing I sleep at odd hours.

And because I sleep at odd hours, and because he woke me up, I'm in no mood for pretending. So instead of acting as pleasantly as always, I grab him by the neck, yank him inside and slam him against the wall, kicking the door shut behind us.

"Leo!" he gasps, clawing at my hand.

"Don't 'Leo' me," I hiss at him. "Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to be tricked by you?" My voice getting louder with every word. "Do you really think I can't smell a rat when I see one?! I betrayed my _country_ for a girl that's said to not exist, I know when there's a traitor in my territory!"

"Let me—" he gasps, trying to talk, but my hand's tight around his throat.

"I should kill you now," I say lowly. "I was almost killed for less. Many times, many many times. But I wasn't! I'm still alive, because I have the favor of souls like Hopper! You though…you're just asking to be burned." I stroke the side of his face with one finger of my free hand. "It would be a shame too, you are pretty."

"Let me…explain…" he chokes out.

"Explain what? That they pay, that they threatened someone, that they made you think you were doing the right thing? I have heard it all! I have _said_ it all! I haven't _just_ been a traitor, I've turned people in to traitors! Nothing you say will justify why you are putting your _soulmate_ in danger!"

He punches me.

I've been hit by bigger people before, but the surprise of it alone is enough to cause me to stumble backwards, my hand to the side of my face.

"I haven't done anything!" Newt tries to yell, but I did do quite a number on his wind-pipe. His voice comes out hoarse and much quieter than he intends. He coughs, rubbing his throat.

"Don't lie to me!" I scream, lunging at him. He ducks away from me this time though, no longer surprised. "You've seen what we do, what _she_ does! You've seen how much she _trusts_ you?! Are you _really_ going to be so blind and stupid as to throw all that away because what?! Some scientist threatened you?!"

"Would you please just let me explain?" Newt pleads.

"I told you, there is no justifying this!" I yell before dropping my voice. "You're lucky I don't tear you apart now. I saved your life. You owe me better than use it to betray us."

"I'm not betraying anyone, Leo, I promise!" he says quickly, backing into a corner, holding out a hand as if that could stop me. I grin when I see the fear in his eyes. "Please…just let me explain…"

I don't say anything this time, so he continues after a minute, "She said that Hopper was going to leave me anyway, no matter what she promised me now. She said that Hopper doesn't belong in the Maze, so she'd have to leave it someday, some day soon, so that things could go on as they're supposed to. She said I could keep Hopper if I did what she wanted though."

"That sounds like…" I frown. "Who told you all this?"

"I don't know, she didn't tell me her name," he shakes his head.

"Well what did she look like?" I demand impatiently.

"Blonde hair with blue highlights, blue eyes, tattoos on her hand…"

I let out a bark of laughter, "Oh, my girl, I wasn't aware you had such interest in other people's stories. Or is this simply because you know I'm here? Testing me," I shake my head, "will only lead to trouble for you."

"What are you talking about? Who are you talking to?"

"Nobody of your concern. Get out," I shoo him out. He doesn't ask any more questions, he just scurries away like the little rat he is. I kick my door shut behind him, grinning as I shake my head. "Well done, my girl. However, do step out of this Game, if you please. I think Hopper and I are enough for one story."


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50: Weakening**

As soon as I turn the corner into the main corridor leading to the Door, I stop, letting out a sigh of relief. I'm almost there. I just wish my leg didn't _hurt_ so much.

"What are you doing?" Minho asks, rounding the corner from his section. He stops when he sees me.

"I broke my leg," I grin.

"That's a good thing to you?" he looks at me oddly. When I just nod, he just sighs. "Alright, come on," he turns away from me, and I jump onto his back. He gives me a piggy back ride the rest of the way to the Glade, jogging.

As soon as we're through the Door, I throw my hands up and cheer, "I broke my leg!"

Leo hollers and cheers, "She broke her leg!"

"You're both insane," Minho comments as he drops me on the ground. Of course I land on my broken leg, and I let out a yelp of pain as I fall to the ground.

"What happened, love?" Newt asks, at my side instantly, clearly worried.

"No Griever," I assure him. "Just…lots of grace," I nod.

"You okay?" Ben asks as he and Leo come over.

"Yep!" I start to get up, but quickly lose balance, trying to stay balanced on one leg. Newt quickly catches and steadies me.

"Come on, let's get you to the Med-jacks."

"I have to map out my section though," I protest, breaking out of Newt's hold to hop towards the Map Room.

"For once," Leo scoops me right up, throwing me over his shoulder, "I agree with Newt. Medical attention first."

"Wait, this isn't right!" I whine, kicking my not-broken leg and beating at Leo's back. "You two aren't supposed to tag-team me, Newt and I are supposed to tag-team you! This is unjust!"

"This is the consequence for breaking a bone," Leo says in a sing-song voice. I spot Graham and Theo coming out of the Map Room.

"Help!" I cry. "I'm being kidnapped! Save me!"

They just stand there and stare, the shanks. I sulk as Leo carries me into the Homestead and up the first flight of stairs, to the Med-jack floor, where he just drops me on one of the cots.

"You and you, out," Leo shoos out Jeff and Newt, ignoring all protests, and closes the door on them. Then he turns to me, "You broke your leg?"

I nod, grinning, as I sit up.

"You do remember that your bones should be nearly unbreakable, yes? Or did you hit your head too?"

"I don't think I hit my head," I say thoughtfully. Shaking his head, Leo just sits cross-legged on the floor, rolling up my pant leg carefully to look. Still, I wince against the pain. He snaps the bone back in place, and I bite my hand hard to keep from screaming in pain, my eyes watering.

"Well you're not going to be running for a while," Leo comments as he constructs a makeshift brace to keep the bones in place. I flinch to the side a little bit when I feel a sharp sting in my side. Glowering in annoyance, I lift up the side of my shirt to see what it is.

"Leo," my voice comes out almost choked-sounding as I try not to start crying. I realize I'm shaking.

He looks up, at me, then at what I'm looking at, and his eyes widen. "When did that happen?"

I shake my head, "I don't know." My voice is breaking from the crying I'm trying not to do. "Not today, I didn't see any Grievers today, I promise."

Leo moves his full attention to the needle-sized hole in my side, and the purple skin and swollen veins surrounding it. "That's why you broke your leg," he says quietly. "Griever poison's weakening you."

"But…" I cover my mouth with my hand, trying so hard not to start crying. Newt's just outside, he can't hear me crying or he'll come in and he'll see this and he can't see this. "Can the serum even work on me?" I ask as quietly as I can.

"I don't know," he shakes his head, more serious than I've _ever_ seen him before. "I don't know what this is going to do to you."

"You're not supposed to say that!" I whine.

"Alright, alright, calm down. Your body is obviously fighting the poison. I've seen someone get stung before, they were sick and delusional the very same day. There's a very good chance that you can overcome the poison. Clearly, it will just take some time. So until then, you have to be more careful. Everything in you that makes you bloody near impossible to hurt is now concentrating on taking care of the poison, meaning you are vulnerable. That means no more climbing onto rooves, no running, no getting into fights, alright?"

I nod helplessly, taking a deep breath and wiping away my tears. "Okay," I agree, because there's really nothing else I can do.

Leo stands up to grab bandages off a shelf, then kneels back down in front of me. "Hold up your shirt." I do as he says, holding up the bottom of my shirt to allow him full access to the puncture wound. "Keep this wrapped up," he says as he wraps the bandage around me. "Right now, you're most likely susceptible to infection, and if that happens…" he lets his voice trail off, but I know what he's thinking.

"Leo," I say when he's done, after I've lowered my shirt again. "Don't tell anyone. Please."

"It's your secret to tell, not mine."


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51: Frank**

That day is Greenie day. Nick had been giving him the Tour when Minho carried me in and I'd cheered that I'd broken my leg – and of course Nick had to answer a couple questions about me and Leo because of that.

But now's the bonfire, but it's early, so everyone in our little group is drinking and dancing wildly and pounding on drums. There are six drums now, though how Leo makes more is still a mystery that nobody even wants to solve – someone, though I don't know who, has started up a rumor that he makes the drums from skins of dead Gladers. Even that gruesome rumor doesn't stop the boys from beating the drums though.

Newt and I aren't beating any drums or dancing though, and I'm not even playing my flute. We're just sitting in the grass, close to the fire, the Gladers dancing around us.

"You sure you're okay, love?" Newt asks, moving my hair on one side behind my shoulder. It's getting too long, it actually comes down a little bit past my shoulder now. I'd ask Leo to cut it if I weren't afraid of him "accidently" cutting off my ear.

I nod, not daring to tell him that I'm fine because that would be a lie. I wrap my arms tightly around myself, watching the Gladers. I notice that Leo, Ben and Graham have the Greenie cornered. Or really, Leo and Graham. Ben prefers to stay out of trouble and not make people angry, but Graham will join Leo if he's bored or curious enough.

And he is now, apparently, because the three of them are talking to the Greenie, and I can just _see_ Leo waiting for a good chance to pounce.

"What about him?" the Greenie asks.

"Newt is taken," Graham says dismissively, and I realize immediately what they're talking about.

"No, not Newt, the other one. The small one." Well at least _he_ doesn't think I'm 10.

"Hopper is also taken," Leo jumps in, already grinning evilly.

"By who?"

"Newt," Ben smirks.

"How long have they been together?" the Greenie asks.

"No idea, time is irrelevant," Leo waves off the question.

Ben answers though, "Since Hopper first arrived."

"Which was how long ago?" the Greenie asks.

"What are you smiling at, love?" Newt asks.

"The Greenie's asking about me," I tell him quietly.

"Six months, I think," Ben says, glancing at Graham, who nods.

"Then they're probably sick of each other by now, right?" he asks hopefully.

"Oh, sure," Leo says sarcastically.

"Definitely," Graham adds just as sarcastically.

Ben's grinning stepping up beside the Greenie, "Hey, Frank, you remember earlier when I told you Hopper had ears like a bat?"

"Yeah?" Frank looks at him, confused.

"Yeah, he wasn't joking," Graham says.

"Now, wave hello to the _girl_ who now knows that you intend to steal her away from the boy she loves," Leo grins, and he, Graham and Ben all smile and wave at me. Frank just stares, wide eyed like a dear in spot lights, lifting a hand slowly to wave hesitantly. I smile my own little evil smile and wave at the boys in return.

"What's he asking about you?" Newt asks.

"He," I scoot closer to Newt so that we're less than a foot away, sitting side by side but facing each other, "is hoping to be able to steal me away from you. Or at least he was, before Leo, Graham and Ben informed him that I can hear them and that I'm a girl," I giggle.

Newt doesn't seem to find it funny though. He looks over his shoulder, at the Greenie, with an odd expression. Leo, Graham and Ben have moved on, Leo to bother Theo and Ben and Graham to dance. Now Frank's talking to one of the Builders.

"Hey," I pull at Newt's sleeve to get his attention again. He looks at me again, and the strange look almost instantly vanishes.

"C'mere," he smiles, and I settle down in between his legs, curled up against his chest while being careful of my broken leg. He's holding himself up with one arm, but he wraps his other arm around me, and I bury my face in the fabric of his hoodie. It smells like dirt from the Gardens and him. I can't help but smile as I close my eyes.


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52: Bound**

"Love," Newt sighs helplessly, only a few feet away, pausing in his work in the Gardens.

I don't say anything though. I don't even look up, sitting against the closest fruit tree to him. It's only been two days, but it's seemed like ages since I broke my leg and had to stop running. I can't decide if this is better or worse than being caged.

Worse, actually, because at least when I'm caged I can still move, I can still fight any time someone approaches. I can't with a broken leg though, especially not when I know how vulnerable I am now, how weak I'm becoming.

I quickly wipe away tears, hopefully before Newt can see them. I hate how often I've been crying, but the past couple days, it's been almost non-stop.

Newt saw. "Love…" he sits down next to me, pulling me into his lap and wrapping his arms around me. I curl into him as best I can, while still being careful of my broken leg, and bury my face in the fabric of his hoodie again.

I try so hard not to cry. But with Newt's arms around me, his fingers playing at the ends of my hair, and the steady beating of his heart beside my ear, it's hard not to. I'm safe here, with him. Here, more than anywhere else, it's okay for me to break, to break down, to cry, when I can't do that just about anywhere else. Not in the Maze, not in the Scorch. It's all a battle zone out there, even when the enemy is sleeping, I always have to be aware and on guard. But here, I don't have to be. With Newt, I don't have to be. I _can_ be weak with Newt, and it's only my training that's making me resist. And somehow, that makes me want to cry even more.

I end up breaking down. Hardly surprising. I don't know how long it lasts. It seems endless but quick at the same time, but Leo's right. Time's irrelevant. Everything's irrelevant, and suddenly I don't care to listen to anything. Not the Maze, not the Gladers, not even the Track-hoes so close. Everything falls away and I'm deaf to everything except Newt, his heartbeat and his voice as he whispers to me, trying to calm me.

Eventually, I do calm down. Or run out of tears. Either way, I fall silent.

"Better now, love?" Newt asks quietly, brushing my hair back away from my face.

"No," I say grumpily.

"What about that medicine Leo gave me when I was injured? Can't he give you any of that?" he suggests.

My head snaps up and I look up at new. "Of course!" I'd forgotten he had that! "Where is he?" I twist to look around. The Gardens are deserted now. Either the Track-hoes decided they wanted to give us privacy or work was done for the day, now a football and soccer game each are going on and almost all the Track-hoes are playing.

"I'll go get him," Newt says, and I scoot myself off his lap and back to the ground. I pout as he gets up and walks away, wanting no more than to just make him stay. But Leo's got the magic potion, and I want to get rid of my broken leg.

So I just watch Newt walk away, over to the soccer field. He manages to pull Leo out of the game.

"Do you have any more of that stuff that you gave me when I was hurt?" he asks Leo.

"You remember that? Strange," Leo observes.

"Do you have any more?" Newt asks again, ignoring Leo's intrigue.

"Of course, why?"

"Can you give it to Hopper? Will it work on her, for her broken leg?"

There's a beat of silence before Leo says, "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"Hopper can mock you endlessly for that later," Newt says dismissively. "C'mon."

"Wait, I'm in the middle of a game!" Leo argues, making Newt sigh.

"Then give it to me," Newt says impatiently.

"Oh no," Leo shakes his head. "I have a very limited supply and I cannot get more while I'm here, I'm not giving it to you. You'll spill it or give her more than she needs and waste my supply or something."

"Leo!"

"Newt!"

"How does anyone put up with you?"

Leo grins, "I don't know, my friend, how _do_ you put up with me?"

They then commence a staring contest, during which Newt glares and Leo grins, clearly entertained. The contest breaks almost a minute later, when another Glader falls backwards into Leo, jolting him and knocking him off the soccer field. "Now you're no longer in the game," Newt smirks.

Sighing in annoyance, Leo turns and starts over to me, Newt beside him. "You have been with Hopper far too long, my friend," Leo comments. As Leo crouches down in front of me, he pulls a flask out of his back pocket. "Two drops of this, no more, got it?"

Nodding, I snatch the flask from him, then frown, shaking it. He made it sound like he was almost out, but the flask is full! I push away the confusion, though, deciding to ask about that later. Right now, all I want is for my stupid broken leg to heal so that I can move again. I unscrew the cap most of the way, leaving it covering the opening so that the liquid inside can just drip out. Two drops on my tongue, and Leo snatches it away before I can even take it away myself.

"You're very rude, you kn—" Fire burns all throughout inside me, burning me. I cough, then throw up, hoping to get rid of the fire. Leo and Newt spring to their feet and away a step to avoid the bile and blood, gods, so much blood, that comes out.

Everything after that is lost in pain.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53:**

~LEO'S POV~

"What's happening?!" Newt demands.

"I have no idea," I admit in a shaky voice as I lift Hopper off the ground.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" Newt follows me as I take Hopper into the Homestead and straight up to the Med-jacks floor.

"Take a guess, my friend, I know normal can be slow sometimes," I snap at him.

"What happened?" Clint asks.

"Not that question again," I sigh, pushing him out of my way when he gets too close. "You, out," I shoo Newt out of the room, shoving him out and closing the door behind him, then putting a chair against the doorknob to keep him out.

"What is going on?" Clint asks as I go back to Hopper, lifting up the bottom half of her shirt and cutting away the bandages.

"No questions," I snap at him.

"She was stung?! She wasn't even the Maze today!"

I spin around and put the knife to Clint's throat, growling, "I said no questions. I very well may need help handling Hopper, and you are more than likely going to see something happen that your tiny brain cannot explain, but right now, I don't care, because if Hopper dies, I am not only going to kill you, but I'll manage to kill at least a dozen other Gladers before they'll be able to stop me. Possibly more. So, I repeat: No. Questions. Good that?"

Clint nods, "Good that."

I nod, turning the knife on the bandages around Hopper's broken leg. "Hold her leg still," I order Clint. "And put a rag in her mouth." Her screams are enough to drive anyone mad.

Mercifully, Clint shuts up and does what I say so I can cut the makeshift brace off Hopper's leg and check the broken bone. "Well at least that bit worked," the bone's healing quickly now, fueled by the liquid in my flask.

"How-?" Clint starts to ask, but quickly silences when I shoot a sharp, quick warning glare at him. I move away from the leg, folding up the bottom of Hopper's shirt again to look at the sting on her side. It at least _appears_ to be no worse, but right now I'm not entirely sure what that means.

"Hold still," I snap at him, yanking the rag out of Hopper's mouth and pulling the flask out of my back pocket.

"She needs the serum," Clint says, pinning Hopper's thrashing body down as much as he can.

"The serum, if it does anything at all, will kill her. This is better," I hope, as I go ahead and pour the liquid from the flask down her throat.

Just when she'd started to calm down a little, it gets so much worse. Her screams louder, her entire body writhing in pain, her eyes too bright but blind from it. But watching the bruising and the veins around the puncture wound of the sting, it's decreasing, slowly shrinking away, even as we have to turn Hopper when she pukes up blood so she won't choke on it.

I laugh, "It's working. Oh thank gods."

But then she starts fighting against us, her wild, animalistic defenses kicking in. "I can't hold her," Clint says through gritted teeth as someone pounds on the door.

"Leo!" Ben calls through the wood.

"Let him in," I command Clint. " _Just_ Ben, not Newt." Clint hurries to the door to do as I say. Surprisingly, he doesn't have to fight Newt though. Newt's gone.

"Hold her down," I instruct them both after Clint's closed the door and put the chair against the doorknob again. "And do try not to get bitten."

"Is her bite as poisonous as a Griever sting?" Ben asks, following my instructions without question.

"No idea, but if you want to find out, be my guest."

It takes hours. The Runners come back, and Graham and Theo join the effort, helping Clint and Ben hold Hopper down while I try not to spill even a drop of the liquid as I let it fall into her mouth. She vomits more blood than is healthy, even for her, and with every drop of the liquid her pain increases, and so does her thrashing and screaming, and the whole time I'm hoping that she'll remember none of this.

But finally it ends. She falls silent and limp, her eyes closing. Nobody moves at first, waiting to see if she's playing dead. Then, one by one, the others cautiously lift their hands off of her, waiting to see if she's going to lunge or snap. Ben, Graham, and Theo, at least, have seen the vicious side of her that reveals itself when she's threatened or scared. Or in pain.

While those three are watching Hopper, Clint looks at me, questions burning just behind his lips. But I'm ignoring him, folding up the bottom of Hopper's shirt yet again to check the puncture wound.

I let out a short, relieved laugh, "It's gone." The puncture itself is gone, the bruising itself is gone, the veins disappeared under her pale skin. "It's gone."

"She's ice cold," Ben says, the first one brave enough to put his hand anywhere near her mouth as he feels her forehead.

"Yes, I imagine she's going to be," I nod. "Get her blankets, cover her up. Hopefully she wakes up soon," I tell them as I head out the door. "Still no questions, Clint."

"Where are you going?" Graham asks.

"To find the cowardly newt," I notice his hooded shirt sitting on a chair in the hallway. I grab it and throw it in, to Ben, "Put that on her. Mind she doesn't bite in her sleep."

"She does that?!"

But I'm already gone, down the stairs and opening the front door of the Homestead.

I don't have to go far to find Newt. He's sitting just outside, against the wall near the door. I stop just outside, not even bothering to look at him. He doesn't dare ask, but I tell him anyway, "She'll be fine. Weak for a while, but alive. She's asleep now."

"She's not supposed to sleep," he says quietly.

"She was poisoned by a Griever. I imagine a lot of what just happened is not supposed to happen," I point out.

"The medicine…?" he looks up at me. I hold up the flask in my hand and tip it upside down. Not even one drop spills out.

"It took all I had. But I think it was worth it. Don't you agree?" I walk away without waiting for an answer.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54: Down into the Darkness**

~LEO'S POV~

How can the Glade be going on as if nothing happened? The Doors are closed now. Gladers are eating dinner, playing soccer, playing football, sitting, talking, the evening goes on just as it always does. That seems so wrong somehow.

I look down at the flask in my hand. It was supposed to last the whole time we were in here. Now we still have a year, and Hopper will have no more medicine if she gets hurt again. If she gets stung again.

I walk over to the Box, pulling open its doors. Inside, there's only an endless black pit leading down to nowhere. Jump into it, and you'll be cut in half.

"We won this round," I say quietly, knowing that the Creators are somehow listening. "Don't you see? You can't kill her. And the more you try to kill her people," I shake my head, "the harder it's going to be to kill anyone. I know what you're doing. This isn't the way to do it. You can keep coming at us, if you want. But it's going to be a waste. And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you get the results of this experiment of yours."

I smirk, "But you don't care, do you? This is just as fun to you as it is to me. You've reached the point where you're no longer experimenting on the Gladers. You're experimenting on me and Hopper. On the variables you can't predict, trying to find a way to predict us."

I look around, at all the Gladers. They're all so oblivious right now. Wrapped up in their conversations, in their games, in their competitions. Hopper did that. Made freedom and life in a world that only had misery and fear.

"I'll make it easier for you," I add quietly. "Do you want to know what makes us, even me, you want to know what controls us? Threaten the people we care about." I look towards the Homestead. Inside, on the second floor, Hopper sleeps while Newt watches over her.

Then I look at Ben, Graham and Theo, at the edge of the Deadheads. "Threaten the people that we're sworn to defend. That is how you break us." I shake my head, "But I promise you that the moment you break us, we won't be the only ones to break. So go ahead," I drop my flask into the bottomless pit, watching it fall until the darkness swallows it up.

"Your move."

"Talking to yourself again?" Theo says from behind me. When I don't answer, he asks, "What are you doing?"

"Sending a message, is all," I say simply, closing the door of the Box again. Rubbing my burning eyes, I turn to face him. "The Box comes back with supplies tomorrow."

"Yeah. What are we going to do without Hopper running?"

I grin, "We don't need her. I am the brains of this operation you know.

Theo smirks, rolling his eyes, "Great, then we're all going to die."

"You will not! Be severely injured to the point of near-death is a possibility though," I say simply.

"You know, I think I'm becoming immune to your insanity from over-exposure."

I frown, "That's possible? Oh dear, I must be losing my touch after all."


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55: Odd**

I don't know how long I just drift in the darkness, in the unknown. Some distant part of me is afraid of all this I can't see, can't feel, can't hear. But for the most part, I just let myself float in it, imagining it's like water, a lake or even a little pond, and I'm just floating in.

But eventually, slowly, the nothingness fades away and I become aware of the warmth surrounding me and the smell of the outside. I bury my nose in that smell, breathing it in deeply. It smells like dirt and grass and things that I can't remember the name of right now.

I open my eyes, realizing I'm in a bed, inside a building, covered by blankets. How did I get here? Where is here?

I sit up slowly, looking around cautiously. There's a boy in here with me, sitting in a chair beside the bed, asleep. I just watch him for a minute, tipping my head slightly. How can he sleep sitting up like that? It doesn't look like it could be very comfortable.

I quietly creep out from under my blankets and out of the bed. The wooden floor is cold against my bare feet, and I scowl down at it as if that would make it warmer somehow. It doesn't though, so I creep out of the room on my tiptoes.

Outside the room, there's a short hallway, with three other doors down it. At the closest end of the hallway, I can see two sets of stairs, one leading up and one leading down. I head to the stairs, stepping carefully down the ones that go downwards. At the bottom of them, there's just on big room with several beds and people sleeping in them. I creep quietly past them, to the closest door in the room, and open it up.

It leads outside, and I smile, jumping out and onto the grass. Then I stand there for a minute, wiggling my toes in the overgrown green, and watching the blades of grass tickle my feet. I look up and around, taking in wherever I am. There are giant walls surrounding this area, stone covered in vines and ivy. There are only a few buildings, lots of sleeping people nearby, a place for a fire over by picnic tables, and a forest. I run to the forest, smiling. I like forests, I think.

I slow to a walk once I'm inside the forest. I just roam about it, running the tips of my fingers along the bark of the trees, brushing the tops of large plants that come to my waist with my palms, stepping lightly onto fallen branches and exposed roots in my bare feet.

"Take care you don't fall, my friend," I voice says as I balance across a fallen tree. I freeze, one foot in the air, my arms outstretched to either side, and look up quickly at the boy who's spoken. I never heard anyone approach, and I can hear so much.

But now there's a point, appeared from nowhere, leaning against a tree only a few steps away, his arms crossed over his chest. His clothes are messy and wrinkled and his hair is wild, almost standing up in places. There's something strange in his eyes. A sort of familiarity and all-knowingness.

I lower my foot to the bark of the fallen tree I'm standing on and let my arms fall to my sides, not saying anything as I just stare at him.

"What's the matter, rose thorns cut your tongue?" he asks. It's such an odd thing to say, I don't really know what it means. So I don't answer it.

"Who are you?" I ask him.

His smile drops away instantly and he slowly straightens up away from the tree. "What?" he asks quietly.

"Who are you?" I ask him again.

"Oh, no," he shakes his head, and I think he's talking to himself now, with how low his voice is. "No, no, this was not supposed to happen. This was not supposed to happen! This does not happen!" he turns and storms away quickly, leaving me alone again.

"He is odd," I observe. But I turn my mind away from it and stretch my arms out to either side again as I continue to walk carefully along the fallen tree. Once I get to the end of it, I jump right off it and continue walking through the forest. Soon, I find another fallen tree, except it's much better than the last one. It's so thick that even lying flat on the ground, it comes up taller than my waist. I can jump onto it easily enough though, so I start walking across that one too, holding my arms out to either side even though walking along this one is much easier than the other one.

I hear the boy who approaches this time, so I stop walking and crouch down on top of the log, facing the direction he's coming from. I can hear him talking to the other boy too, even though I only hear one set of footsteps.

"Calm down, you're not making any bloody sense," the new boy says.

"Because none of it _does_ make sense!" the boy who came before says. "The medicine was supposed to cure her, everything. The poison, the broken leg, anything else that could have possibly been wrong with her, it should have fixed it! That's what it _does!_ Ow!" There's a strange thump and then the odd boy says, "That tree was not there a moment ago."

"It's the Glade telling you to shut up. Stay here," the other boy says, not seeming bothered at all. He's still walking towards me, but I don't know if the odd boy is. How can I not hear his footsteps when I can hear so much else?

When they get close enough for me to see, there's only one of them. The odd one stayed back like he was told. But now the boy who was sleeping in the chair beside my bed is standing there, looking at me with a strange sort of look.

I wait for him to say something, but he doesn't. He just keeps staring at me. Are all the boys here so odd?

Finally, I decide to say something first. Maybe then he'll talk again. "You were the boy beside me when I woke up."

He smiles. I like his smile, even though it seems incomplete. "That's right," he says. "I'm always beside you." I don't know that, but somehow I believe him. He doesn't seem like the sort to lie. "Do you remember anything?" he asks.

I nod, "My name's Hopper." But that's the only thing I remember.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56: Mine**

The boy nods. I think he already knew my name somehow. "I'm Newt," he tells me. I like his voice. He's not too loud or anything.

"Ribbit," I say automatically. He laughs quietly, glancing down, and I smile at that I made him laugh. "Where am I?" I ask him, wrapping my arms loosely around my knees.

"The Glade," he says, taking a step closer. He looks around the forest we're in, "We call this part of it the Deadheads."

"That's a funny thing to call a forest," I decide.

He smiles again, looking at me again, and I smile back, "I know."

Behind Newt, there's several other loud thumps and crashes and the odd boy yells something that I can't understand, like another language. "Who is he?" I ask Newt.

"Leo," he answers as he turns back to face me. "Don't mind him, he's insane."

"What did he say just now?"

"I don't know," Newt shakes his head, taking another step closer. "He speaks 'bout a dozen languages, only one I know is English."

"He's odd," I point out. I can still hear him muttering in one of these other languages he speaks.

"Yeah," Newt agrees with a nod, taking another step closer. He's only six steps away from me now, I think.

"I knew you before, didn't I?" I ask him. "Before I lost my memory."

He nods. "Yeah. We've known each other for a while."

I tip my head to the side slightly, looking at him. "Are you really always beside me?"

He nods again, taking another step forward, "Yeah. And I promised, you were asleep but I promised, that I always will be as long as you want me to be. Just like you promised a while back to never leave me as long as I want you around."

"Why don't I remember it?"

"You were sick," he glances down, taking another step forward. "The medicine, it cured you, but I think it also made you forget everything. Do you remember anything at all? About the Glade or…or about somewhere else?"

I shake my head, "I don't remember anything before waking up and you were beside me. Is sleeping in a chair comfortable?"

He smiles, glancing down, "Not at all. But I wanted to be there when you woke up." He takes another step closer. He's only three steps away now.

"Am I yours?" I ask him.

He nods, taking another step closer, "Yeah. And I'm yours."

I smile, "Good."

He smiles too, closing the distance between us. He reaches up and wraps his arms around me, scooping me right off the fallen tree. I wrap my arms around his neck, because he's so tall that my feet aren't touching the ground, and he buries his face in the crook of my neck.

Over his shoulder, I can see more boys. The odd one, Leo, is back, with dried blood under his nose this time. And he's with three other boys, who are either laughing or smiling or breathing out like they've been holding their breath for days.


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57: Nervous**

"Come on, love, let's get you something to eat," Newt says as he sets me on my feet on the ground. I don't even come up to his chin, I'm so little. Or he's so tall. I can't decide which. The boy with floppy brown hair and multiple rings in one ear – Newt tells me his name's Theo – is about halfway in between my height and Newt's. Ben, the only other one of the boys with blonde hair, is only a few inches taller than Theo, and Graham a few inches taller than him, bringing him at about Newt's height. Leo's the tallest of them all, several inches taller than Newt.

"Food," I agree, nodding, just as my stomach rumbles.

"We have to go get ready," Graham says, gesturing to him and Theo.

"Ah, yes, me too," Leo says.

"You too?" Newt questions.

"I'm running today," Leo says, earning strange looks from Theo and Graham.

"You don't really think Minho's going to agree to that, do you?" Graham asks.

"You don't really think he cares whether or not Minho agrees, do you?" Theo asks, turning his strange look to Graham, who just sighs.

"Minho's already agreed that he will not get in our way, whatever we may do. You're a Runner down anyway, I don't see why you're complaining," Leo says simply before turning and walking away.

"Only Runners are allowed in the Maze!" Graham calls, hurrying after him.

"We're all going to die," Theo nods, seeming so very sure, as he turns and follows more slowly behind the other two.

"And Leo's going to be the one to do it, probably," Ben says, but I think he's talking mostly to himself. Then he turns and follows behind the others.

"Are we really going to die?" I ask Newt, now that we're the only two left.

"Of course not, love," he says, taking my hand. "They're just being overly-dramatic shanks. C'mon."

"Food?" I ask as we start walking.

"Yeah, food," he smiles, leading me out of the Deadheads. Just outside the forest, though, he stops, lifting my hand to look at the watch strapped to it. "Cover your ears," he says. I do as he says, even if I don't know why I'm doing it. Once my hands are over my ears, he covers my hands with his own. Almost instantly, a strange sound starts, making me jump. It's muffled to me now, but I can tell what it is perfectly well. Stone grinding against stone, as holes appear in four spots, one on each of the four walls of the Glade. They're the only spots where there's no ivy or vine covering the walls.

They're doors, I realize quickly. Graham, Theo, and Leo are all hurrying out of one of the buildings and to two different doors, Theo and Graham going together and Leo going to one that already has one boy standing in front of it. The other two doors have two more boys each standing at them. As soon as they're open enough for people to fit through, all of the boys run through the doors, leaving the Glade.

Once the doors are fully open and the noise stops, Newt lowers my hands from my ears. "Where are they going?" I ask him.

He hesitates, a strange look in his eyes, before simply saying, "Outside the Glade." I can tell he doesn't want to tell me any more, so I don't ask him.

Instead, I just tug on one of his hands, "Food."

He smiles and kisses the top of my head. "Yes, love, food."

He takes me over to one of the buildings, where Leo, Graham and Theo had run out of before. There's someone else in there, cooking.

"Anything ready yet, Frypan?" Newt asks the other boy, pulling me over to a window in the wall of the building. There's a counter in the window that Newt crosses his arms over and leans against. While nobody's paying attention to me, I sink down so that only my eyes are peeking over the top of the counter.

"I can have eggs and toast ready for you guys in a minute, but sausage is gonna take a little longer," the boy inside, Frypan, says without looking up.

"Just give us eggs and toast then. And save me some sausage for later," Newt tells Frypan before glancing down at me. I just look up at him with wide eyes, making him laugh.

Only a couple minutes later, Frypan sets two plates down on the counter, still without ever looking at us, and Newt picks them up. "Come on, love," he beckons me to follow, shaking his head and smiling when he sees I'm still sunk down with only my eyes peeking over the counter. I stand up and hurry after him as he turns and walks away, to one of the picnic tables nearby. He sits on the bench as he sets the plates down, but I climb up onto the top of the table and sit crouched down on it just like I did on the fallen tree before. Newt pushes one of the plates closer to me and tells me to eat, so I do. I decide I like eggs and toast.

As Newt and I eat, more and more people in the Glade wake up and come over to have their own breakfast, and the more people that come closer, the more nervous I get. By the time I'm halfway through my food, more than a dozen boys are around. I crawl off the table, onto the bench, and then off the bench and under the table.

"What's wrong, love?" Newt asks.

"Who are all these people?" I ask, whispering.

"They're the other Gladers, love. They're not going to hurt you, I promise. Come back up and finish eating, I have to get to work soon."

"Work?" I ask nervously, crawling back onto the bench from under the table. This time, I just sit on the bench, next to Newt, and pull my plate closer to me again so I can keep eating. But Newt having to go to work makes me nervous. Does that mean he's leaving me alone?

"Don't worry, love, you can come with me," he says, wrapping an arm around me to pull me closer against his side and kissing the side of my head.

I smile, "Good."

Newt and I finish eating after a few minutes, and by then a few more boys have showed up. But thankfully, after Newt and I finish, he takes me away from the majority of them and over to where all the fruits and vegetables are clearly grown. I almost immediately throw myself in the dirt to play in it, while Newt walks away a few steps to get some stuff out of a shed before coming back and going to work near me.

For the next hour or so, I alternate between playing in the dirt – drawing spirals and designs, making little castles or fort – and watching Newt. Sometimes he seems almost as if he's completely forgotten about me, he's focused so much on his work. But then he'll glance at me and smile, and I'll smile back, loving that he still remembers I'm here even though he's working so hard.

Then a bigger boy comes over to me and says, "I thought you were a Runner now?"

I just blink up at him, confused, and a little bit nervous, because the boy's at least three times bigger than me. I want to creep back over to Newt, but the boy's looking right at me, so I can't sneak, and if I try to run, he could easily just lift me right up off the ground and hold me so that I can't get away. So I don't move. I don't even call out, no matter how much I want to.

Thankfully, Newt's close enough that he hears, and he stops working to come right over, immediately stepping up beside and almost in front of me, shielding me from the bigger boy. "She's still kind of sick," Newt tells the boy. "Is it cool if she just stays with me today?"

"If she's going to stay here today, she could at least make herself useful," the boy says. Then, as he turns and walks away, "Maybe we'll finally get done before dinner again now."

Newt and I both watch until the boy's gone, turned his attention to someone else, before he turns and looks down at me and I look up at him.

"Who was that?" I ask.

"Zart, he's the Keeper of the Track-hoes, the people who work in the Gardens."

"He wants me to help."

Newt nods, but says, "You don't have to if you don't want to though."

I shake my head though, "I can help." Then, more quietly, I add, "I think." I don't remembering ever working in a garden before though.

"C'mere," Newt holds out his hand for me, and I take it and let him pull me to my feet. Still holding my hand, he takes me over to a plant and we both kneel down in front of it. "Pull these little plants away from the big one, okay? They're weeds, they'll stop the plant from growing if we don't pull them out."

What he's saying seems kind of familiar. So I get to work right away, pulling out only the little plants and being careful not to hurt the bigger plant. Once he sees me doing it properly, Newt walks away a few steps, going back to his own work. I stop my own work and look over my shoulder at him for a few minutes, smiling. I love Newt. He's helping me so much, and I know if he wanted to, he could just leave me to my own, let me figure everything out by myself. But he's not. He's helping me and he loves me and he's being really patient with him and I love him.


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58: Protectors**

~LEO'S POV~

It just doesn't make sense. I spend my entire day in the Maze thinking about it, trying to figure out what went wrong, what happened. But it doesn't make sense. Nothing is supposed to not make sense, not to me, I'm the one who can figure out anything! But this…this I can't figure out. I've never run into a problem anything like this before. There are no flaws, none! It's healed broken bones, it's cured poisons, it's brought people back from the brink of death! It's proven to be a flawless cure-all!

So then _why_ does Hopper have no memory? It can't possibly be the roses, there are no side-effects to that! Unless you have too much for no medical reasons, but even then, the only side effect is a buzz or drunkenness similar to a normal human drinking alcohol. Nothing truly negative.

Then there's only one explanation. It's the Griever poison. That had to be what caused her memory loss. The roses cleansed her blood of the poison from the Grievers, but by that point it'd been in her system for some time. An unknown amount of time, really. And because of that, I'm not entirely sure what kind of damage it did to her system. For all I know, aside from her pointed ears, she's entirely normal human. My gods, that would be tragic. Especially for a creature such as her, capable of so much, having so many enhanced senses and skills and talents. Well, if she is primarily human now, I suppose it would be best that she doesn't remember all she used to have.

It would have to be the Griever poison. It'd be the only thing that could do what's been done. But I've seen boys get stung by Grievers before. They've never forgotten anything. They remembered, in fact. In the stupor of their healing, they would remember bits and pieces of a life before the Maze.

Then did they alter the poison? That'd be the only explanation. They'd have to have. And it would make sense. As much as they want to bring Hopper down for messing with their experiment, it could be entirely possible. I wouldn't be all that surprised really. Far stranger and worse things have been done before.

That's all it can be, then. The Griever poison weakened Hopper, and then when it had to fight the roses to kill her, it managed to do enough damage to erase all of her memory.

But now that begs the question; how can the damage be reversed? How can I return her memory to her? The serum is what the rest of the Gladers use to counteract the Griever poison. I hesitate to use it on Hopper though. She is an all-natural being, chemicals such as that could cause great harm to her. But is it possible that they would cause her memories to return? Is it possible that the Griever poison causes memory loss and the serum causes memory regained, even in the average Glader? On anyone else, I would find out. I'd inject them with the serum, simply to know.

But Hopper is different. On any other, even from her world, I would risk it, simply to know. But I cannot do that to Hopper. Not knowing for sure what would come of it, I cannot bring myself to inject her, to risk any piece of her, simply for my own knowledge.

Rubbing my tired eyes, a part of me curses this Bond between me and her. There are moments when I'm convinced I could not possibly have ended up with someone more challenging, someone who would have defied and challenged all that I know so thoroughly. It's not an easy feat, to challenge what I know. I know too much. Not everything, I'll admit, I'm not arrogant. But I've spent my entire life studying endlessly, and as a result I know far more than most. Hopper has an infuriating way of somehow throwing my knowledge right down the well.

I smile wryly to myself. Of course I would end up stuck with someone as challenging as her. I would have been bored with anyone else. Someone less challenging would have been far too easy, far too boring, and it would have infuriated me and I would have undoubtedly hated them. Well, perhaps not hate them, it takes quite a lot for me to hate someone. But I certainly wouldn't have loved them as I love Hopper.

Still, as much as I do enjoy the challenges that Hopper brings, I find myself wishing that she brought none, or at least fewer, simply because the challenges that she seems to be bringing are putting her at risk. She fought Grievers, she was stung, she has lost her memory, and gods won't likely tell me what she will do or what will happen to her next, and I have reached a strange and foreign point where even I cannot predict it for myself. I cannot for the life of me remember when I had not even a single solid theory about what would happen next. And I realize that the very fact strikes fear within me.

If it were me, I wouldn't care. I actually prefer not knowing. It's all the better that was. The unknown cannot be predicted, cannot be guessed, cannot be anticipated. It is so much more fun because all you can do is ride the changes and fight for your life among them, all the time simply hoping you don't die because prayer will do little good. If it were nearly anyone else, I wouldn't care.

But Hopper is different. I actually do care for her, and part of me is infuriated by that fact. Instead of simply watching as I always do, taking notes and sketches and observing, I actually find myself wanting to pull her from the danger. I can't even count how many times I've wanted to leave this place, simply to bring her with me, bring her away from the danger. I'd take her to the island, where there is the green she so loves and where she would only fight if she wanted to.

I haven't though, because of Newt. In the end, she would not be able to leave him properly, with or without her memory. Now that they have met, the Bond between them is unbreakable and to even attempt to separate them would cause undue emotional harm to them both. I do honestly believe that Newt would let her go, if it were to keep her safe. He loves her far more than he'll likely ever love himself, and for that reason I have no doubt that he will do anything to keep her out of harm's way, be it send her away, stand as her shield, or cause her to hate him. She is the warrior, but he had dubbed himself her night, despite all the protection he needs for himself, simply because he values his own life so much less than he values hers. Which is a ridiculous notion, really, since her life would only be a half one without him now.

No. No matter the reason or cause or excuse, I cannot take her out of the Glade. She cannot leave her soulmate now, she would be incomplete without him. She would forever remember him, even if her mind was shattered and she had no memories to look back on, she would always remember that missing piece of hers. She would feel its hole as she never had before, because once it would have been filled, but by taking her away, it would empty it again. It would be like giving a starving man one bite a food and then telling him he can never have any again. He would always remember the taste, how it satisfied his stomach, how much better he felt after eating it, all the time knowing that he would never feel that way again. There are reasons to think, if I took Hopper out of the Glade even now, so late into the Game, that I would be able to restore her memory somehow. But I won't, because even with her memories, she would be incomplete without Newt.

So instead I must sit here, within the Deadheads as always, watching little Hopper curled up asleep in Newt's lap. We keep our voices low and quiet, barely able to hear each other, simply so we won't wake her and her sensitive hearing. Newt, being the one whose chest her ear is pressed peacefully against, his arms wrapped comfortingly and protectively around her, tries not to speak at all. But Alby, the only one who could possibly act as his second voice, is not in this secret club of ours and therefore cannot be put to use. Perhaps tomorrow I'll rectify that. After all, I may be the only one aware, besides perhaps Newt, of Alby's love for Hopper. No, I don't think even Newt knows. His best friend acquiring the girl's love would have stopped Alby from voicing his love to even his confidant.

I shake my head. Humans.

"What, I'm wrong?" Ben asks, looking at me.

"Quite possibly, but I wasn't listening," I inform him. I realize that, beside me, Theo has fallen asleep on the ground. "Wake up, you shank," I shove at him. "If I have to listen, you do as well."

Theo startles awake, sitting up instantly, and I can tell immediately that it's a nightmare I just roused him out of. He rubs his eyes, but says nothing of his recent lack of sleep. "Sorry. What were we talking about?" he asks.

I pat him on the head as if he were a pet of sorts, "Worry not, I'm as clueless as you."

"You don't sleep," he looks at me, puzzled. They all know I'm human and that I do require sleep, but they all also know that I haven't had a proper night's sleep for longer than I can remember. Even before the Glade, I did not sleep often, and even less often all through the night.

"That fact does not mean I pay attention to all that happens around me," I remind him. He simply shrugs, too exhausted to get into a proper argument with me. Instead, he turns to the others and asks once again, "What were we talking about?"

"We're trying to figure out how Hopper lost her memory," Ben says. "It's like she just came out of the Box."

"Of course!" I realize.

"Of course what?" Graham asks.

"That's how Hopper's memories were erased! I knew it wasn't the roses."

"The roses?" Theo asks, still sleepily.

"The medicine," I explain dismissively. "It's flawless, it cannot possibly have cause Hopper's memory loss. To that's what did."

"You're not making any sense again, Leo," Ben points out.

I sigh. How I hate dealing with the slow and normal sometimes. "When each boy is let into the Maze, they arrive with no memory, yes? Obviously, you are injected with something that blocks the memories before the Glade. When someone is stung by a Griever and is administered the serum, the antidote, they awake from the stupor of pain to realize that they remember bits from before the Maze. It's not the serum that does that, but the Griever poison, and Hopper's memories have been lost because the Creators altered the Griever poison so that it locked away the memories instead of releasing them, knowing that Hopper would be the next one stung because she would stand in the way of anything that tried to come after anyone else. So since there is always the chance that the poison will not kill, they altered it so it would turn her into something they can control. A proper Glader, with no memories of what made her who she is."

"That's why she's so different now?" Newt asks quietly, keeping his voice even lower than he normally does around her.

I can tell there's more behind his question, details and expansions he dares not speak for waking up his love. But I know what he means, nobody knows Hopper better than I, not even him, simply because I have been dealing with Hopper's sort of people for longer than any one of these Gladers would believe.

"Precisely," I tell him. "What made Hopper as fearless and challenging as she was, it was all her training as a warrior, all of her instruction in fighting. Now Hopper is as she was before she was sent to the desert, before she was taught to fight. This is Hopper as she would be now, if she'd been left in her own home, in her own land. This is Hopper's soul, pure and untainted by war or tragedy, fear or malice."

"But she's not herself now," Ben argues, just as careful as Newt to keep his voice low even though he's not quite as close.

"Not the self you know, no," I agree. "If she were to be put back into the Maze in the night, however," I look at the sleeping girl. She looks almost like a child, as small as she is and as innocent as she has become. "I do believe she would revert back to the warrior inside her," I decide. "Those instincts can be taught, but not forgotten."

"We're not putting her back in the Maze," Newt says quietly, with a sense if finality and a clear protective instinct for her in his voice. It is not his decision to make, however. It is mine. Lucky for him, I do agree. If Hopper were to re-become the warrior that was forced upon her, she would do it of her own choice this time. I would no sooner force it on her than I would throw her into a bonfire to burn alive.

"Certainly not," I agree. "We are going to have to be careful with her now though," I decide, hardly realizing that I'm speaking aloud. "As a Glader, she's too vulnerable, too small, too weak. She was our protector, and now we must be hers."


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59: Memories**

"How long have I been here?" I ask Newt, as I walk across the big fallen tree like it's a balance beam, stepping carefully, my arms outstretched to either side. Newt walks beside me, on the ground, eating an apple.

"About seven months, I think," he tells me.

"How long have you been here?"

"Almost a year and a half. I was one of the first."

"Who was the first?"

"Alby, the second in command."

I nod, "I know him." I've seen him around a lot, and Leo and him seem to talk a lot. Almost every time I see Alby, actually, he and Leo are talking. I've thought about listening in on what they're saying, because I'm curious about it, but I still haven't. It would probably be really rude. "Who's the grumpy one Ben's always arguing with?"

Newt smiles, "Gally. Keeper of the Builders. Gally doesn't get along with anyone."

"I've seen him chasing Leo around, threatening to kill him," I remember.

Newt nods, "That happens a lot with Leo. He's a troublemaker."

I nod, "I've noticed. Gally's not really going to kill Leo, is he?"

Now Newt shakes his head, "Leo's too fast and smart, Gally'd never be able to catch him to kill him. Nobody would."

I nod. That's good, I guess. I don't like that anyone would want to kill Leo at all, but as long as he won't get caught, it's not too bad. I stop walking along the fallen tree and crouch down on top of it instead. Pulling the top of my hoodie up over half my face to bury my nose in the fabric, I look up at the wall not far away. Somewhere on the other side of it, Graham, Theo, Leo, Minho, and four other boys whose names I don't know are doing whatever it is they always do out there.

Newt's stopped walking too, and has stepped closer to me.

"What's out there?" I ask him.

Newt hesitates before answering me reluctantly, "The Maze. Grievers. Somewhere, hopefully, a way out."

"Is that why the others go out there? To find the way out? What are Grievers?"

"Monsters," Newt answers the last question, skipping over the other ones. "Dangerous monsters."

I tip my head slightly, staring at the wall. Somewhere beyond it, in the night, sometimes I hear whirrs and clicks and taps and a strange sort of growling breath. Are those the Grievers? What do they look like? Can they be killed?

The next morning, Newt and I wake up as early as we always do, to see our Runners off. Ben wakes up then too. Sometimes, if I'm having a hard time waking up, he'll carry me around on his back. But he doesn't today. This morning, I'm wide away, which is strange to me because I couldn't sleep much in the night, listening out for the noises that must be the Grievers. Even though I didn't hear any last night, I waited all night to hear them.

"There still wasn't a message in the Box yesterday," Ben says to the others.

"I keep telling you, there's not going to be anymore," Leo says. "The former routine stands and again and will continue to stand. The Grasshopper threat in neutralized, they've no more reasons for messages or targets do you people ever listen to me?"

"No," Theo, Graham, Ben, and Newt all say at once.

"I commend the honesty," Leo says, unbothered. "I'm ready."

"Me too," Graham says.

"Yeah, I'm good," Theo adds. I step out of the doorway and lean back against the outside wall as the boys come outside and separate. Theo, Graham and Ben head over towards their Door while Leo, Newt and I start towards East Door.

"Hey, wait," Leo calls, turning back and jogging over to Theo, Graham and Ben, who stop. Newt and I stop too, turning to see what Leo's doing. He goes right over to Theo, grabs the other boy by the sleeve, and kisses him quickly before pushing the Theo away again. "Don't get killed."

"Your chances are higher than mine!" Theo calls after Leo as he hurries back over towards us.

"When did that happen?" Newt asks Leo.

"Time is irrelevant," Leo answers dismissively as we arrive at the East Door. I cover my ears as the Doors start to open. Once they're open enough to fit through, Minho and Leo start running, one by one going through and into the Maze on the other side. Newt and I stay where we are, watching them go. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Newt look back over towards Graham, Ben and Theo. I don't though. Not today. Today, I just continue to look up at the Door as it opens, and beyond it at the Maze.

Out there, danger and unpredictability lurk. Somewhere among the corridors, these things called the Grievers lurk in waiting for their prey. They're dangerous. Deadly. Still, I can't help but be curious about them. I can't help but want to see one. Want to fight one.

"Love," Newt's voice is quiet, but it breaks my thoughts away from the Maze. I look up at him. He's watching me with a strange sort of look I can't read. "C'mon, it's time for breakfast," he says.

I don't go right away though. I look back up at the Door, then out at the Maze, one more time. But then I let Newt take my hand and I turn away from it all, following him over towards the picnic tables and the Kitchen and Ben, who's already there and getting his own breakfast.

Late that night, when Newt and almost all the other Gladers are asleep, I climb out of the hammock, careful not to wake Newt, and hurry out to the Deadheads, where I can watch Leo go a little bit ago, and I haven't seen him come back yet.

I find him easily enough, despite still not being able to hear his footsteps. I can hear his muttering though, so I follow the sound of that. Newt told me Leo speaks so many different languages, but this one seems familiar to me. I can almost understand what he's saying, but even though I can understand the words, I can't very well understand the meaning of them because I only manage to catch bits and pieces. He's talking too fast for me to be able to completely understand even what I can translate.

He stops suddenly after a time, when I'm only a few steps away, even though I'm hidden behind a tree. "I know you're here, my friend. It's as impossible for you to sneak up on me as it is for me to fail to sneak up on you."

Caught, I come out from hiding spot.

"You know," he says before I can think of what to say. He's standing near the fallen tree that I like to walk across. "I do believe this is one of the first times I've seen you away from Newt since you two finally confessed your love to each other. I must admit, it's good that you two did so when you did. I was getting so tired of the dodging and evasions and fears. We are not fearful people, my friend."

"You always do that," I say quietly. "You talk like you and me are different from Newt and the others."

"That is because we are, my friend," he states simply. And there's that strange look in his eyes again, a sort of all-knowingness. Like he knows what I want to ask as well as the answers to it. Like he knows more than I do, maybe more than I could imagine that he knows. It's hypnotizing in a way. I can't help but wonder just how much he knows, how many secrets he keeps locked away.

"How?" I ask him, somehow almost afraid of the answer.

He holds out his hand to me, not saying anything. I step forward and take it, and after he pulls me closer he lifts me up off the ground and sets me on top of the fallen tree. Then he climbs up himself to sit beside me, facing me, one knee pulled up close to his chest. I turn to face him, pulling one leg up on top of the tree.

He explains everything to me then. How, before I became sick and lost my memory, I was one of only two in the entire Glade that could remember life before it – him being the second one. He tells me that I came to the Glade willingly, and that since then, I'd done just about a dozen things to change life both in the Glade and in the Maze. I caused the Maze to be a more dangerous place than it had been even before, because the Creators started targeting people specifically because they knew that every life they took would damage me, no matter who it was. But then he tells me that our group, our little secret club, countered even the targeted attacks by using our blood-born talent for impulse to confuse and corrupt their plans. As a result, no one ever did get hurt, until I got stung by a Griever. That was when I lost my memory, when before any Glader who got stung and treated in time would gain bits and pieces of a life before the Glade. Since my memory loss, the Maze routine has returned to what it was before I started corrupting things, with Grievers rarely coming out during the day, and no one has been injured or targeted since.

"I fought those monsters?" I ask him once he's finished.

He nods, "Very well, I might add. Before you were stung, you managed to never allow them to injure you."

"How did I learn to fight?"

"You were a warrior before the Glade. A fighter. I don't know the finer details, you and I had never met before coming here. You and I are different, my friend, very different from these Gladers, you so much even more so than I. You and I are from the same world but have different blood within us. You are a living rebellion, a revolutionary soul. It isn't too late to revive the rebellion, my friend."

"That would put people in danger again though, wouldn't it?"

But Leo shakes his head, "With you and I standing between the Creators and the Gladers, it will not be our friends in danger, I can promise you that."

I can't deny the strange thrill the idea gives me, the way it makes my chest almost hurt with a strange sort of longing. To fight, to defend, to stand between what is wrong and what is right and to make a mark to decide which side wins. It would mean going out in the Maze, fighting the Grievers, challenging the Creators, these nameless and faceless beings who control our lives. It would mean taking away that control, and claiming it for ourselves so that we can control our own lives.

"So what do you say, my friend? Will you rise up again and inform these ridiculous scientists that not even robbing souls such as yours of memory will let them win?"

I can't help but grin, "Definitely."

But the next day, when Newt and I end up falling asleep during the day in the Deadheads, the plans for a relit rebellion are smothered. I wake with a start, memories crashing together with the current reality, making my head spin until I can hardly know what's going on.

Hands over my mouth, around my throat, grasped tightly around my hands, my wrists, my arms, my legs, binding me, pinning me, caging me.

Screaming, growling, snarling snapping, fighting for freedom that I'm too bound up to have.

"Hopper!" voices yell, some girls, some boys, some with accents, some without. Some yell only my name, some yell things that I can't understand, some are calling out orders.

Darkness, daylight, dawn, dusk, noon, midnight, time blends together until I don't know when I am anymore.

Trees, stone, forests, deserts, sceneries crashing and blending as one so that I don't know where I am anymore.

Pushing, shoving, holding me still, preventing me from moving, even as I thrash and fight, my bare feet sinking into hot sand, cool dirt, damp grass.

Stone against stone, fires crackling, winds blowing, nothing seems real and yet all of it is true.

And then it all stops, as suddenly as it started, and I'm left on my knees on the stone, looking up to find the Maze around me, with its familiar stone walls covered in ivy and vines. The Doors are closed behind me.

I've been banished. But I remember _everything_.


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60: 5 Months Later…**

~LEO'S POV~

The very day after it happened, Graham, Theo and I searched for her, calling her name, knowing she could hear at least one of us no matter where she was. She never came though. We asked the other Runners, and they never came across her either. When the Doors had opened, we'd found the collar, but that meant nothing because I knew she could quite easily break out of it. Proof of that was the torn leather of the thing. She hadn't bothered to be careful. Perhaps she hadn't had the time to be careful.

We never found her. We searched for weeks, but there was never any trace of her. They asked me if she could have gotten out. She could have. I'd shown her once the way out. And she'd remembered it. I saw it in her eyes as she fought, the return of her memories. She was once again more than simply the Grasshopper she was born as. She was once again the monstrous, dangerous, deadly beast that all her training to become a warrior made her.

I told them none of this, though. Not about the return of her memory, and not that she knew the way out and could have taken it. Because I know that she would not have. She would have known what her banishment would do. She would have known what would happen to me once she was gone, once the Gladers had rid themselves of her.

I almost killed Gally that very evening. I knew it was him. I'd caught him spying on us before, and I knew he never liked us. But I honestly didn't think he would put the smallest of us all in true danger like that.

I would have killed him, I think. But Graham, Ben, Newt and Theo pulled me off. It took all four of them and Hopper's name to do it. Hopper would never forgive me if I killed. We are not killers. Gally could hold a gun to Hopper's head and we still would not kill him. We would restrain him, take his weapon, knock him out, lock him up, anything need be. But we would not kill him because we are not killers. Not even the warriors.

Now months have passed, too many for me to care about, and there has still been no sign of her. I've taken her place, as best as I could ever dream to. I challenged the Creators just as she did, and as a result, individual lives are targeted again. Once again, the weekly supply Box comes bearing a message, a warning, a riddle that once solved tells us who is going to be targeted next. The next day, I do whatever it takes to stand in between the target and the Grievers. I come back wounded when she never did, because I am not a warrior. I learned to fight, but I could never dream to be able to fight with the grace and swift fluidness of the warriors.

The paper under my hand disappears. " _What?_ " I snap, looking up at Leo.

He just shakes his head, though, setting the paper back down in front of me. "Nothing," he mutters, pushing off the table in the middle of the Map Room and leaving me alone in here. I turn back to my work of mapping out today's Maze. I figured out the pattern months ago – which made me thankful that Hopper turned back that time when we almost left, because we would not have been able to leave without a code I didn't even know existed. But I haven't said anything. I never say anything. Even the secrets I used to be able to tell Hopper, I now tell no one. To tell would be to ruin what little remains of this story line.

The Greenie horn sounds. It's late today.

It all begins today.

Today, the Greenie is Thomas. He'll befriend Chuck, the Greenie before him, the youngest of us all, the smallest because Hopper is not here to be. I go to the doorway of the Map Room to watch the others crowd around the Box. From here, of course, I can't see the newest Greenie but that hardly matters.

Today marks the beginning. Thomas marks the beginning, because tomorrow the girl who was meant to be the first and only girl to come to this Maze will arrive. Thomas will become a Runner, Teresa will assist in solving the code, and before long, the way out will be found and used.

Soon, this Game will be over. And it seems, despite what I've thought all this time, it will be done without Hopper's corruption.

I slam the Map Room's door closed and lock it before returning to the Homestead, my room, a product of my midnight mumblings keeping people awake. I stay there until the morning comes and it's time for me to go back into the Maze. I miss the moment when Teresa arrives, and I ignore the information that Ben tries to tell me about the day. I no longer care. My part in all of this is all but done, and now the only thing for me to continue to do is fight Grievers that target, simply because it gives me something to stick a blade into.

But even that ends once Teresa arrives. The pattern goes back to normal, with the Grievers primarily only coming out in the night. Minho finds a dead Griever, and Alby goes with him the next day to see if it's Hopper that's done it. They don't come back in time, and Thomas throws himself through the Door like Hopper did so many times before him, and we're all so sure that they're dead.

But the next day, the Doors open, and Thomas and Alby and Minho are alive, though Alby was stung. The Griever wasn't dead. I probably could have told them that, if I'd cared enough to.

"Hey," Thomas says just behind me now. I look away from the sleeping Teresa to glance at him. "Who're you?"

I almost smirk at the protectiveness in his voice. "No more than an insane Glader who has lost what most have forgotten," I tell him as I step out of the doorway to allow him access.

"Did she wake up or anything?" he asks me. "How long have you been here?"

"She hasn't woken." I ignore his second question as I walk towards the stairs. I stop at the top, however, knowing that he's still in the doorway, watching me go. "She does say your name though. I'd wager you two knew each other before the Maze."

I only take one step down before he says, "You're Leo, right?" I stop, but don't answer his question. He is clever enough to know that my lack of answer is an answer, and he says, "Newt said you know things that nobody else does. That true?"

"I suppose it is," I tell him. Knowing all I do doesn't seem to do me very much good anymore though.

"Do you know how to get out of the Maze?" he asks. He is clever indeed.

I don't answer him. Maybe he's clever enough to take that answer as I mean it. Maybe he's not. I don't care either way, really, as I go downstairs and leave the Homestead for the Deadheads.

The changes finally begin the night that the Doors don't close. The hour strikes on all of our watches, and one by one Gladers stop what they're doing and come outside and look at the Doors, waiting.

"What's going on?" Ben asks.

"It's beginning," I say simply.

"What is?" Graham asks.

"The end."

The screeching roar of the Griever sounds then, piercing everyone's ears.

"They sound really mad," Theo observes, his voice shaking slightly.

Around us, orders are being shouted, by both Newt and Alby. Graham, Ben and Theo start to follow them, but I don't move, so they stop only a step away from me.

"What are you doing?" Graham asks with slight panic in his voice.

"What are we doing?" Theo asks at almost the same time. Whatever I do, they will do. They made me their leader when Hopper was banished.

"They're coming from all sides," Ben says.

"What do we do?" Newt asks. He's finished giving his own orders and now seeks mine. Alby's yelling, at all four of us telling us to get inside, take shelter. But I don't.

I start laughing. Because _of course_! How could I not have realized it sooner?! It's all about the triggers, all about the impulses, all about this one moment when everything shifts. Time, circumstances, space, knowledge, it's all about the time when all of that changes and ceases to be what we know it to be.

"This is a _really_ bad time to prove your insanity!" Theo snaps at me.

"Oh, but don't you know?" I grin, staring at the doors and the Grievers charging for the attack. "I'm not really insane."

"They're coming!" Ben yells.

"Go!" Graham shouts, and the two of them and Theo retreat back, towards the Homestead, towards shelter. Newt starts to follow, but then he must notice that I am not moving.

"Leo!" he calls from behind me. But I'm not moving. I'm grinning, laughing, I'm such a fool for not connecting it all sooner, for not knowing that this was going to happen. For not predicting what's going to happen now.

The Griever reaches me, reading up over me, and I just watch it, grinning madly, as they scream my name behind me.

But then something hits the Griever, knocking it sideways. It falls limply, dead.

"Ow," I familiar voice coughs, gasping and sucking in air.

I cross my arms over my chest, grinning. Because there she is, covered in mud, dirt, dust and blood. Filthy, maybe even injured, but there, kneeling in the grass, breathing and alive and _here_.

"After all that happened," she says, breaking the silence, as she lifts herself to her feet. She looks at me, angry and annoyed, "Were you _seriously_ just about to get yourself killed?"

"Death has not been an option for me for a very long time, my friend," I reply.

"Get inside, you klunk-brained shank," she smirks. Then she's gone, jumping onto the dead Griever, using it as leverage to jump higher, away, onto another Griever attacking another Glader who's yet been fast enough to make it to shelter.

I turn and hurry over to Newt, who's just standing there, staring, watching, likely convinced he died somehow without noticing. "Come along, my friend, if we let ourselves die while she's protecting us, she will never forgive us," I grab his arm and pull him inside.

"Wait, no, we have to help her!" his mind finally snaps back to life just as I get him inside. I shove him further inside, slamming the door behind me and blocking his path.

"She can handle herself, my friend," he reminds me. "She's lasted this long out there on her own, she didn't do that out of luck."

He stops struggling against Graham and Ben, who are holding him in place. Cautiously, they release him, but he doesn't know.

"She? Who?" Teresa asks.

"The only other girl who's come to the Glade," Alby says grimly.

It seems like an endless amount of time before everything outside falls silent. "Are they gone?" Someone asks. I open the door enough to look outside to see.

"I do believe so," I tell them. Newt's pushing past me in an instant, running, searching for Hopper. I follow behind him, walking, watching.

She's standing perfectly still in the middle of the Glade. She's still covered in dirt, mud, dust and blood, and now Griever slime too. I can't tell if she's wounded, but from a distance she doesn't appear to be bleeding. But what makes me stop walking is how still she's standing, how blank her eyes are. It causes even Newt to hesitate, suddenly filled with fear. Possibly for her…possibly of her.

An irrational but terrifying thought runs through my mind, that she is dead after all, and it's her corpse standing in her place.

But then she sucks in a deep breath and lifts her head, looking up at the sky. As she releases the breath, her hands come up to push back the hood of Newt's sweater that she still wears. Newt's in motion again, rushing to her, catching her as her body slumps towards the ground, wrapping his arms around her. She immediately breaks down, crying, her arms around his neck, her face buried.

"Shh," I hear him whisper to her, holding her close, tight against him. "It's alright, love. I'm here. You're safe."

I throw my head back and laugh.


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61: Feral**

When all the fighting's done, when the whirring and the clicking stops, when all the Griever's are dead, there's this moment of breathless silence, of complete stillness. There is no wind, no voices. There is nothing. I hear nothing. I feel nothing. Not the cool air of the night, not the grass under my bare feet, not the Griever blood dripping from my skin. I'm locked in this moment in between time, in between the last swipe of the blade and the moment the Gladers realize it's safe again.

There is nothing. No Glade, no Maze, no Scorch, not even me. There is absolutely nothing. My instincts to fight, to survive, have faded away. They don't exist either. There's just the distance, the awayness of everything, of me. The goneness.

I suck in a deep breath, feeling like I haven't been breathing for months, and look up at the sky. Somewhere beyond it is the source of all that I am. It all seems to be gone now though. Can't it come back? Or has all this fighting finally done what I've feared for years it would do?

I push the hood back off my short, tangled, dirty hair, and something snaps and collapses inside of me. My eyes fall closed and my body sags towards the ground. But two arms wrap around me, holding me up and holding me tightly as I start sobbing.

"Shh," he whispers. "It's alright, love. I'm here. You're safe."

And I know I am. Because I'm crying, because I'm shaking, because I'm so afraid and fear can only be afforded in absolute safety. I know I'm safe, here in the Glade, surrounded by green, held by Newt. And somewhere beyond him, I can hear laughter. Just one person. But I know who, even without opening my eyes. And if Leo's laughing, laughing in that he is now, with no insanity but just a strange sort of joy and relief he rarely feels, even that tells me I'm safe.

For the first time in months, I'm safe.

Eventually, though I don't even have the slightest idea how long it takes, I calm down, remember what's going on. I pull away from Newt, now the both of us are sitting on the ground, and quickly wipe away the tear tracks on my cheeks.

"Was anyone hurt?" I ask Leo.

He's grinning, half mad, but he shakes his head, "No, I think you took care of—"

Before he finishes though, Gally lunges, yelling angrily, as if _he_ has any real reason to be angry. He's on me in an instant, and we're rolling across the grass. But Gally's at the disadvantage, because he's bigger than me. He's a brute, but I'm a beast. Snarling and growling, shutting out the shouts and the hands grasping at us to try to tear us apart. I bite and scratch. I don't know where my weapons are, where or even when I dropped them, but I don't need them, I tear at Gally without them, aiming for the eyes, his throat, the most vulnerable parts of him.

Finally, someone manages to break us apart.

But someone's restraining me, so I turn on them next, attacking them blindly, going for their vulnerable spots too, until someone pulls me off of them too. This one's at least smart enough to let me go as soon as I'm off the boy, so I don't bother attacking them too.

" _That's_ the girl?! She's a wild animal!" someone says. I spin towards the voice, ready to attack again, but I hesitate when, strangely, I see another girl. She's taller than me, her skin bare of freckles, and her hair long and dark, her eyes bright blue. And wide, because she thinks I'm going to attack her next. Maybe I will.

"Hopper, love," Newt steps in between me and the girl, blocking me from her. I look up at him, feeling myself slowly calming down. "Let's go to Deadheads. Okay?"

I nod, curling my shaking hands tightly into fists briefly before letting them relax again, effectively, and probably temporarily, stilling the shaking. "Deadheads. Yeah. Leo?"

"I sincerely doubt the Grievers will return tonight," Leo answers without me having to clarify what I want to know. "They'll need to regroup and rethink whatever their strategy was, to factor you in."

I nod, and Newt and I go to the Deadheads. We stay on the edge though, so that I can watch for Grievers, just in case they do decide to send them back again tonight after all.

"Who is she?" I ask, snapping the question before Newt can say anything.

He hesitates, startled, and then answers, "Teresa. She came in the Box a few days ago. With a note that said she'll be the last one ever."

"Then that's it," I realize. "Game over, time to get out of the Maze."

"Yeah…" he hesitates again, and I know it's coming. The questions, the wondering where I've been, why I didn't come back, why I just disappeared. They all knew I could survive in the Maze. When they banished me, there's a very good chance that they did it with full knowledge that in order to keep me gone, they'd have to banish me repeatedly.

"Where's Nick?" I ask. Out of all the Gladers, he's the only familiar face that I don't see.

"He died last month," Newt says. I look at him sharply. "He thought he heard someone scream, ran into the Maze. A Griever attacked him. Didn't even sting him, just killed him."

I look away, back out to the Glade. If I'd been here, if they hadn't banished me, that wouldn't have happened. I did what I could, hidden in the Maze, but it would have been so much easier if they hadn't banished me.

"Are you okay?" Newt asks. "Did you get hurt?"

I shake my head. I'm too fast to be hurt, and I've gotten even faster since being in the Maze. Sitting's too much, I stand back up and start pacing. Newt stands up too, but he stays where he is, just watching me.

"When's the last time you ate?" he asks me after a minute.

I glance at him, but don't answer. He's not going to like the answer, I already know it. There was no food for me out in the Maze. I can survive a possibly endless amount of time without food, but after a time, it does weaken me. It has been long enough that starvation has weakened me. The only reason I can still stand, still move, still fight, is because of the animal that I am, never caring about anything but staying alive. Shuck the comforts like food.

"Frypan will have dinner ready soon," Newt says.

"Why is Gally still here?" I demand.

"What?"

"He's the reason I was banished. I remembered it, while the Doors were closing that night, I remember hearing him listening in on me and Leo talking the night before. And he'd listened in on us before. He knew, and he told Nick and Alby. Probably others too. It's his fault I got banished."

"Gally wouldn't…" Newt starts to shake his head.

"He would," I snap, glancing at him, continuing to pace. "He did. He's always hated me, because I know what it's like outside the Maze, I've always known, always remembered, and because I have the power to cause all of this, this Maze and their experiment, I can make it all crumble, he knows that, he heard us talking about it, many times, and he got me banished because of it."

"That doesn't make sense, love. Gally's a jerk, but…"

"Defend him all you want," I snap, again not letting him finish. "Don't believe me then, don't trust me."

"I do trust you, love, I just don't think Gally would do something like that."

"Fine," I snap shortly. If he doesn't want to believe me, I don't care. I look at the closest Doors. "They're gone."

"Who?"

"The Grievers. Not even in the Maze anymore. Gone away, back to their cave, their hidey-hole."

"Then we're safe, love," Newt says, reaching for my hand. I pace away from him though, keeping out of his grasp.


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62: Wild Animals**

~LEO'S POV~

"I hope you're not waiting for her to fall asleep," I say to Newt as I jump up to sit beside him on top of the picnic table. I lean over to peer under the table, where Theo is. "What are you doing?"

"I dropped one of my earrings."

"You have a dozen more, who cares?"

"Five," he corrects. "I only have five more. And the one Hopper ripped out is my favorite. She fights dirty."

I grin. Theo had been the poor soul who had managed to get Hopper off Gally, and then been even more foolish in trying to hold her so that she couldn't attack again. Instead, she'd turned her claws on him. Quite literally. I expect Theo shall have a scar across his eye for quite some time.

"She's not going to sleep, is she?" Newt asks, turning my attention back to him.

"Sleep is unnecessary for those like her. It is something those who feel truly and completely safe do, and only then if they have nothing else to do," I tell him.

"She slept when she lost her memory," he points out, watching Hopper. A short distance away, she's pacing in a circle, restlessly watching all the Doors, waiting for Grievers to return, even though she knows better than any of us do that they're gone for the night. She can hear their absence.

"She knew no danger when she knew no memory," I remind him.

Newt sighs, and neither of us say anything for a time. I look under the table at Theo again, "Find your earring yet?"

"No," he mutters grumpily.

"Here," I set his earring, which I'd found on the ground at a different picnic table, on the bench beside my foot.

"Shucking thief!" he snatches up the small silver hoop.

"Fine, next time I find something you've lost, I'll simply burn it," I say simply, sitting back up as he crawls out from under the table.

"Hey," Thomas comes over to join us, sitting on the other side of Newt as Theo takes the space on the other side of me. Hopefully Graham and Ben don't come over, because we're running out of space. "So who is she?" he asks as he joins the vigil over Hopper, all four of us just watching her pace like a tiger waiting for its prey.

"I think a lion," Theo says thoughtfully, almost as if being able to hear my thoughts. Or did I speak them aloud? It's always difficult to tell.

"She would be a lioness, not a lion. Despite what you all thought in the beginning, she is in fact female," I grin. "And besides, I think she's more like a tiger."

"She's Hopper," Newt answers Thomas's question. "She came in the Box about a year ago. She was banished six months ago."

"Why?"

Newt doesn't answer this one, so I do, leaning forward so that I can look at Thomas as I tell him, "The less you know, my friend, I assure you, the better off you'll be. Focus on your own part in this Game, not on others'."

"What game?"

Theo snorts, trying not to laugh, and I just glare at him and push him off the table. "I hate normal," I mutter under my breath. "You know what I think?" I jump off the table, turning to face Newt and Theo, who's just getting up off the ground.

"Please say bonfire," Theo practically begs.

I grin, pointing at him, "Bonfire. Tonight! Where're the matches?"

"You're not allowed to touch the matches anymore, remember?" Graham says as he and Ben finally join us.

"One time!" I whine. "It was _one_ time!"

"What was one time?" Thomas asks.

"You don't want to know," Ben shakes his head, but Theo launches into the story of how I set the stove in the kitchen on fire and almost burned the whole building down.

"He also made and effigy of Gally to burn one time," Graham adds.

"Sadly, Hopper told me to take it apart before we actually started the fire," I sigh. I am _still_ disappointed I didn't get to burn that effigy.

"Are you always dangerous around fire?" Thomas asks cautiously.

I grin savagely, "My friend, I am always dangerous. Now, seriously, where are the matches?" I ask Newt. I don't think he's paying the slightest attention to any of us, though, too busy looking past me, at Hopper. I look over my shoulder to look at her myself. She doesn't look like a grasshopper. She looks like a wildcat. One that's been in plenty of fights and beaten down plenty of times and is simply waiting for the next time.

"Uh, Leo," Thomas pulls my attention away from her and tosses a book of matches to me.

"Aha!" I cheer. Graham lunges for me, trying to take the matches back before I can do any damage, but I dart out of his reach and bolt away. "Well behaved boys, stack the wood up!" I call back at Ben and Theo, fleeing from Graham.

Sadly, with both day and night gone, the fire's not as bright as it usually is, it doesn't illuminate the night, and it seems to lack some of its usual magic. But still, the Gladers beat the drums I make – now there are more than a dozen of them – and dance around it. Teresa, at least, seems to enjoy it. Thomas, however, is too busy staring at Hopper, would could be hazardous to his health for several reasons.

Hopper does not come near the fire, does not stop circling, watching the Doors. She's never-tiring, that one.

"You, shoo," I wave Thomas away, pushing him off the table when he tries to protest, as I return to my former seat beside Newt on top of the table. "What are you thinking?" I ask him, handing him a cup of Gally's moonshine. He takes the cup without looking away from Hopper.

"What do you think happened to her out there?"

I turn my gaze away from him to join him in watching our pacing friend. "There was a suspicious lack of Grievers while she was in the Maze. I'd wager she fought, somehow managing to hide from us the entire time. Yes, I think that's exactly what she did in the Maze for so long. Fought, constantly, anything she could. Fighting is how they survive."

"Why didn't she come back?" he asks quietly, his voice breaking slightly. "She stayed away on purpose."

"She did," I nod, taking a sip of my own moonshine.

"You know," Newt looks at me, "you know what's she's thinking, don't you? You know how her mind works."

"Certainly not as well as she does, of course."

Newt sighs, "Leo."

"Yes, yes, go burn, and someday I likely shall. In another six hundred years, at least, however. Fine, fine, ask your questions."

"Is she mad at me?" he looks back at her. I follow his gaze, watching Hopper myself.

"She's mad," I agree. "Perhaps not at you in particularly. Or rather…not _just_ you."

"What do you mean?"

"We were a team. You, me, Theo, Ben, Graham and her. We were supposed to have each other's backs. And, for the most part, we have. But when she was banished, none of us could stop it. We failed her. So yes, she is angry at you. She's angry at all of us. As well she should be. In our world, this does not happen, a team does not fail each other. Partners do not fail each other. To do so is…I don't even know," I shake my head, "it's simply not done." I should have done something. Killed Gally if need be. I should have made sure that she stayed safe, here, with us. She's my responsibility and I failed to keep her where and with who she belongs.

"If we were in your world, what would have happened?"

"Something akin to war, I believe," I nod.

"What's going to happen when we get out of here? If we get out of here…"

"You and Hopper will stay together," I say, knowing exactly what he's meaning behind his question. "This is no star-crossed lovers story, no classic normal tale of two loves from two different worlds. Once we leave here, she will be free to go where she pleases, and that will be with you." Glancing at him, though, I can still see his fear. I sigh. "I hate normals. Cowards, every last one of you. Now, you can waste your time fearing losing her again, or you can actually work on getting her back. The choice is yours, my friend, but I must recommend taking an active part in this relationship of yours before she's truly lost to the wild side. Soon, we will be back in her territory, in the land and the circumstances that made her a fighting beast to begin with. You'll have to give her a reason to turn away from the fighting again. And continuing to sit here and fear is not going to do it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go do something completely ridiculous and possibly dangerous, simply because I want to." I slide off the top of the table and start to walk away, towards the fire. Only a step away, I stop and turn back around, "Oh, by the way, Thomas seems to be taking an interest in your girl, and Franklin has never stopped eying her. Good luck to you. You may actually need it." I turn and walk away then, over to Theo.


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63: Waiting**

"This is ridiculous," I snap.

"I completely agree, you're making me dizzy," Leo says simply.

I growl at him, "Go burn."

Leo lets out a bark of laughter. "Finally! Dear gods, I've been waiting for you to say that for months."

"I haven't been here for months," I remind him. I don't stop pacing, I don't care if he says it's making him dizzy. I don't even believe that it really is.

"Exactly," he says, more serious than he's been yet. I glance at him. It's always weird when he's serious. Even facing death, he laughs. He's insane. Seriousness just doesn't suit him.

"Where's Newt?" I look around for him.

"Alby wanted to talk to him. I'd wager he's just inside the Homestead, near a window, and that is watching you this very instant. And I'd also wager you're making him dizzy as well."

"Oh, would shut _up_ , you don't get dizzy any more than I do!" I snap at him.

Leo doesn't say anything this time, thankfully. And after a time, I say again, "This is ridiculous. We already know how to get out of the Maze, why are we waiting for that fool Greenie to figure it out?"

"Quite honestly because I want to know if he can really do it. And, almost as importantly, how long it takes him."

Sighing in annoyance, I say nothing more and just continue to pace. Silence falls between us, broken only by the soft sound of my feet stepping back and forth across the grass. After a time, Leo finally speaks again, "You know, a life of fighting doesn't have to make you so vile. You and I both know people who have been fighting as long as you have, longer even, but they are not like this."

"Like what?" I snap at him.

"That," he snaps right back at me. "I understand you were not born to be a fighter, that you did not want to be one, but it is likely that very soon you will no longer have any need to raise a blade for anything more than cutting away branches that block your path. Now you can either continue to let this fighting break you apart, or you can actually _fight_ , in more ways than with a blade or bow. Forget fighting to survive, you fool, fight to bloody _live_." He gets up and walks away before I can even think up a response, storming off to Graham, Theo and Ben.

I've stopped pacing. I don't move, just watching him walk away. He doesn't stop at the others, he just grabs Theo and continues on, away from everyone, out to the Deadheads, leaving Ben and Graham watching them go with matching confused expressions.

"Everything okay, love?" Newt asks, managing to startle me. But all I do is jump a little bit. I don't growl, I don't snap. I just glance up at him, then nod.

"Um, how did Theo get all those scratches on his face?" I ask him.

Newt actually smiles a little bit, "You did that, love. Don't you remember? When you attacked Gally, Theo managed to get you off and then you turned on him."

"That was Theo?" I look up at him. "Why wasn't it Leo? He knows better than to try to restrain me."

"Leo was too busy cheering you on," Newt laughs.

I roll my eyes, "Of course." I turn and walk away a few steps, going over to the picnic table and sitting on top of it. I don't really want to sit down. But if I'm going to get rid of…whatever this is, I need to start going back to the life I had before this. Or, in between this. I'm a Glader. Not a warrior. I'm not a warrior. "I'm not a warrior."

"What?" Newt asks.

I glance up at him. I didn't even realize I'd spoken aloud. I shake my head, curling my hands into fists, and then uncurling them to look at them closer. I can't see my freckles. My skin's too covered in dirt and dust and blood and Griever slime. I still haven't washed up. I've been back for days, and I haven't washed up, or slept, I've barely even eaten. I look over my shoulder a little bit, at the fire. Despite the lack of night, the boys seem almost unfazed by it, still beating on drums and dancing around it. I don't even know where my flute is anymore. I can't even remember the last time I played it.

"I, um," I look back at my hands, scrubbing them together, "I should clean up."

When I look back up at Newt, he's smiling. He reaches up and tucks a messy and tangled strand of hair behind one ear. "Good that. Here, give me the hoodie."

"No way, it's mine now!" I protest.

Newt laughs, "I'll give it back, love. I'm just going to clean it." I narrow my eyes him, not entirely sure if I believe him or not. But then I remember that I'm sneaky and fast. I'll just steal it back somehow if he decides to keep it.

"Fine," I agree, pulling it off, leaving me in my slightly less dirty, lose, long sleeve shirt. I let Newt take the hoodie as I slide back off the table and head towards the Homestead, to the second floor where the Med-jack rooms and the showers are.

I take my time in the shower, scrubbing off all the dirt and dried blood off of me. I scrub at my skin until it turns pink despite the cool water, and I scrub at my hair until the water finally stops bring brown and pink, but actually clear as it runs off of my hair, and then I cut away the extra length so that, when it dries, my hair will be back to my preferred length, the ends coming just down to my chin. I don't come out for over an hour, and just as I do, the other girl in the Glade comes in.

"Hopper, right?" she says to me. I nod, watching her cautiously. She drops a pile of clean clothes on top of the table. "Newt sent me to bring these too you." I nod, still not saying anything. She turns her back, so I get dressed, keeping my gaze on her, wondering why she's still here. She wants something, I can tell, I just can't tell what. Whatever it is though, I don't think I'm going to like it. She doesn't seem like she's here to play nice and get to know me.

"Look," she finally breaks the silence after a little while, after I'm dressed. She turns around to face me. "Stay away from Tom, okay? He's _my_ boyfriend."

"Who?" I just look at her, confused.

"Thomas! I've seen the way he looks at you!" he snaps.

"Then maybe you should be talking to him, not me. I can't control how people look at me," I walk past her, leaving the shower room and walking down the hallway, towards the stairs.

"Hey, don't walk away from me!" the girl calls, chasing after me. She grabs my arm, and it takes everything in me not to turn around and attack her just for that. Instead, I just yank my arm out of her grip and turn to face her.

"What's your name?" I demand.

"Teresa," she crosses her arms angrily.

Without another word, I turn and walk away, down the stairs and out of the Homestead. "That's it?" Teresa calls after me, chasing me. I don't answer, don't turn to face her. "Hey!" she grabs my arm again, and this time, I don't bother holding back.

I let her spin me around to face her, using the momentum to her disadvantage, and I lunge at her. In an instantly, we're on the ground, fighting. Again, I have no weapons with me, but again I don't need them as I turn my claws on her eyes and throat, her most vulnerable spots. Yelling surrounds us, but I ignore it all, wanting nothing more than to just shut this stupid girl _up_! And weak and normal as she is, all she can think to do is pull at my hair, get a few punches in. She does manage to knee me in the stomach, but I ignore even that. No Greenie, no Glader, can best me in a fight.

Arm wrap around my waist, yanking me up and off Teresa, then immediately releasing me before I can turn on them. Suddenly Ben and Newt and a new boy who I don't know are in between me and Teresa, keeping us from attacking each other again. And oh gods, how I want to attack her again.

"She's insane!" Teresa's yelling. "She's not even human, she's a wild animal!"

I snarl at her, becoming more and more an animal by the second. But Newt's in front of me, his hands on my shoulders as he tries to hold me back. He drops one hand and turns to Teresa, but Leo's there first, appearing from nowhere as he always does, and yelling right back at Teresa like she's yelling at me.

"That's right, Greenie, she is an animal and the more you provoke her the more she'll want to rip you to shreds so go ahead! Keep angering her! We won't be able to stop her forever and if we cannot stop her, then it will be _you_ that she will kill first!"

"Leo!" Newt yells before Leo can go on. "Deadheads. Now!" Then he turns to me, "Calm down, love, ignore her." I glance up at Newt, then at Teresa again. "She's not worth it, love," Newt adds. And he's right. She's not worth it. She's not worth the energy it would take to fight and kill her, since I don't even understand why she's so angry.

"You okay, Hopper?" the Greenie whose name I don't know asks, looking at me.

This infuriates Teresa. She looks at him, baffled and sputtering for a second before managing to snap out, "Tom!" And Tom looks between me and her, so confused it's funny. I can't help but laugh, sticking my tongue out at Teresa. She lunges at me again, but Tom and Alby hold her back, and Newt turns me away before I can lunge right back at her – probably because he knows I'd be able to duck past him and Tom both if I wanted to.

"Enough! Can we please focus on something more important?!" Tom's yelling behind us. "I figured out how to get out of the Maze."


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64: What's The One Thing Scientists Hate More Than Anything?**

Not everyone's brave enough to leave. There are many that want to stay in the Glade, where it's relatively safe, instead of going on into the outside world, into the unknown. "Normals are such _cowards_ ," Leo comments to that. But all of my group easily decides to go. We are a team, and even though leaving terrifies Ben, Graham, and Theo, they agree to come without hesitation simply because Leo, Newt and I are going to go without any doubt. Leo and I know what's out there, and Newt wants more than anything to leave the Glade. To him, it has always been and will always be a prison, even if I apparently made it better and easier for him. In the end, two dozen decide to leave, including Franklin, Alby, Thomas and Teresa of course, Chris and Minho and the other Runners. Frypan stays behind. Zart comes, reluctantly, following my lead.

We all arm ourselves, all of us who decide to leave. But none as much as me and Leo. We have seen all kinds of battle, we know better than anyone how to prepare. Ben, Theo, Graham and Newt follow our lead, also bringing more weapons than most. Even Alby brings extra weapons, after noticing that we are. Minho calls us shanks and says we're just weighing ourselves down with all the weapons.

"You must not be _that_ tough after all, if you need so many weapons," Teresa comments, looking up and down at me.

"When you die out there because all you have is a silly little sword, die knowing that Hopper and I will be laughing at your stupidity as we carve up Grievers," Leo says as Newt puts a hand on my arm, both of them effectively stopping me from lunging. I just glare at Teresa, and she glares at me, until Ben takes a step backwards and puts himself directly in between her and I, cutting off our views from each other. I look away, slinging a quiver across my back, then the bow, and a spear.

"Chucky, you stay with me," Thomas tells Chucky, the youngest of all of us – and barely shorter than me. Thomas glances at me, earning another disgusted and angry look for both him and I from Teresa. I can't help but grin, loving how angry it's making her.

"Alright," Alby says, nervously gripping his bow. "Let's go."

"Ah, ah," Leo steps up and in front of everyone before anyone can move. "Let's do this in a way that all of us will actually live." He whistles, waving us forward, and Newt, Graham, Ben, Theo and I push past everyone else so that we're at the front too. While I was banished, Leo trained them all to fight. They're still not as good as him and I, simply because they haven't had as long to practice, but they are going to be much better than the rest of the Gladers. "Here's how this is going to go," Leo starts.

"You're not the leader, Leo," Alby snaps angrily.

"Oh, but I'd wager if Hopper were up here in my stead, you'd have no quarrel about it," Leo points out.

"Well of course not, nobody argues against Hopper, she's too cute," Minho says simply.

"You argued against me all the time!" I argued.

"That was when you were a Greenie and wanted to run into the Maze without having a shuckin' clue about it," he points out.

"Look, if you want to lead these fools blindly into an unknown battle," Leo says to Alby. "Be my guest. We'll stay behind so that your stupidity doesn't kill us."

"Alby, just trust him," Newt speaks up.

"Sure, let's trust the crazies," Teresa mutters.

"Do you _want_ Hopper to kill you?" Ben asks, turning to the other girl. "She's killed Grievers. You'd be child's play to her."

Teresa doesn't say anything this time, just glaring at me.

"Excellent," Leo takes that as a sign to continue. "Then it's decided. Hopper and I have killed Grievers before…"

" _You_ have?" someone asks.

"How did you think I was getting the skin to make my drums?" he asks, as if it's completely obvious. The boy who asked about it just blinks, eyes wide, and visibly pales. Theo, Graham and I laugh. Newt looks somewhere between puzzled and partially horrified.

"As I was saying. We'll take point. Graham, Theo, Ben and Newt right behind us, and you," he points at Teresa, "can actually come right up front with me so that I can throw you right to the Grievers." Teresa visibly bristles and fumes angrily. Especially when she sees Thomas struggling not to laugh. Chucky's not bothering to try, he's giggling. I think I like him, I decide.

And then we are off, running away from the Glade and through the Maze, in a lose formation, little more than just a big group. It's already been decided, Thomas, Teresa and Chucky will barrel through, jumping into the Griever Hole to punch in the code while the rest of us punch a hole through for them and hold off the Grievers to make sure they get in. And Leo and I will drive into the Grievers first, ruthlessly and brutally, with Newt, Graham, Ben and Theo behind us if necessary. But hopefully between me and Leo, we'll be able to take the brunt of the attacks.

The others stop when they first hear the Grievers. They probably thought we would have stopped too. But we don't. Leo and I rush forward, weapons ready, and throw ourselves to the line of waiting Grievers.

Behind us, there's a moment when none of the other Glader's move. Some are just hesitating because they're afraid or unsure, but many of them I know are just watching me and Leo with bafflement, unable to really believe that here we are, fighting Grievers, the deadliest of creatures that they know, completely ruthlessly and with absolutely no fear. Even I have to admit that actually watching a warrior fight can be an amazing thing. We move like water and wind, nothing holding us down, nothing able to grasp us. Leo is a very talented fighter too, but he didn't learn the way that I did. He didn't learn to listen and the watch every angle and to know how to move away and against it all while still using each movement to drive into the next strike.

But then the hole is punched, we've separated the Grievers, made a clear path between them and the Griever hole. Someone yells, "Go!" and Thomas, Teresa and Chucky are rushing forward, ducking and dodging between the Grievers, as the rest of the Gladers join the fight.

One Griever gets past, following them into the Griever Hole. I drop my bow and empty quiver as I slide under a Griever spike before it can pierce through me. I come up on the edge of the Cliff, and throw myself right off it, jumping into the Griever Hole. As I fall, I pull my spear lose. I land killing, my spear going deep into the Griever. Another Griever follows in, and I leave my spear where it is so that when the living Griever drops down on top of the dead one, my spear pierces it too as I throw myself off and land rolling on the ground. I'm on my feet instantly though, because no matter what, you _never_ get caught on the ground.

"Hopper!" Thomas called behind me. I risk a glance over my shoulder even as I know another Griever is coming, and Thomas tosses me his spear. I snatch it out of the air and throw myself forward, diving at the next dropping Griever. Before it even lands, though, all the whirring and clicking stops, and all the Griever's still, everything falls silent.

"Did we do it?" Chucky asks, whispering.

"I think so," Teresa answers, also whispering.

"Why are we whispering?" Thomas asks.

"I don't know," Chucky giggles. Then that shrill whistle comes, the signal between us that Theo started.

I whistle in response, telling them I'm still alive and that I'm down here. And then Leo yells, "VICTORY TO THE INSANE! FUCK YOU, WICKED!" And just about everyone erupts into cheers and Thomas, Chucky and I start laughing. Even Teresa can't hold off her own laughter for longer than a few seconds. Because we're alive, despite all those Grievers that tried to kill us.

And then the Gladers start dropping down, on top of the Gladers. "Oh, gross!" Ben complains, the first to come down. "Heads up, you're landing on Grievers!" he calls up to everyone above.

"Well I've certainly landed in worse," I hear Leo comment.

"You okay?" Ben asks me.

I nod, "You?"

He nods, and smiles, almost laughing as he hugs me. "You guys good?" he asks Thomas, Chucky and Teresa once we pull apart and he looks over at them, while others jump down to join us.

"Yeah. Did anyone die?" Thomas asks.

"I don't think so," Ben shakes his head.

"Hopper was so awesome!" Chucky says, and I can't help but smile, feeling my cheeks turning pink.

"Hopper's always awesome," Ben grins, hugging me against his side again.

And then Newt jumps down, rolling off the Grievers and landing clumsily. "That's bloody disgusting," he scowls, tossing Griever slime off him.

"Ew," I make a face.

"Couldn't you have at least let them come in a little bit before you killed them?" Graham asks once he's down. He pulls off his jacket and discards it on the floor, ridding himself of a good amount of the slime. "At least then we would have such a disgusting landing."

"Try tracking refuge in the sewers beneath Italy," Leo says. "Far more disgusting." This, of course, earns him several strange looks.

"How would you _know_ something like that?" Thomas wonders.

"Oh, didn't you know?" Leo grins at him. "I didn't lose my memory entering the Maze." Thomas, and all the others who didn't know that, just blink at Leo, stunned into stillness. "Shall we then?" Leo asks pleasantly, as if all this is is a casual walk.

"By the way," I add, just because I want to further the confusion and stunnedness, I remember everything too." Pulling Newt with me by his hand, I follow Leo.

"They also entered the Maze voluntarily," Ben adds, following us. "Try figuring that one out."

Graham and Theo follow along next, but all the good lines have been taken, so they do it silently except for their laughs at everyone's expressions. "I think poor Thomas's brain melted," Graham comments, catching up to us.

"That's messy," Leo grins. Then he stops so suddenly that Newt and I bump into him, and then Ben, Graham and Theo bump into us.

"What's going on?" Theo asks. All the Gladers, one by one, push their ways to the front until we're all in all but a line, staring at what's in front of us. Newt angles himself in front of me a little bit, protective even though he knows very well I can take care of myself. But I let him stay in front of me, as long as there is nothing on the attack yet, and I just hold onto his sleeve and the back of his shirt.

We've come into a big open room, surrounded by other rooms that have big glass windows in between them and this one. And inside each of the smaller rooms is a person, a scientist, watching us.

"Oh for the love of," Leo starts forward, furious. But he stops, when the only door in this room opens and another scientists comes out. With Gally. Gally was the only one taken by the Grievers. He gave himself up to them, and none of us were fast enough to stop him. We'd thought he was dead, but here he stands, very much alive, looking tortured and angry and scared. Newt pushes me a little bit more behind him, but I don't think he's even conscious he's doing it.

"Leonardo," the scientist greets. Then she turns her gaze to me, half-hidden behind Newt, "And Grasshopper."

"Good, then we don't have to waste time with introductions," Leo says simply, starting forward again. He stops again when Gally raises the knife in his hand.

"Stay back," Gally yells, his voice shaking. Can these scientists control minds? Because Gally does _not_ look like he wants to be doing what he's doing.

"You two have caused quite the disturbance," the woman beside Gally says.

I let go of the back of Newt's shirt and step forward so that I'm beside him. Then I let go of his sleeve too and step up until I'm beside Leo. We are being directly challenged. I can't hide away from that.

"We do tend to have that effect," Leo grins madly.

"It's our blood, it's said," I smile sweetly, interlacing my fingers behind my back.

"I'm not sure I entirely believe that," the scientist says.

I giggle and Leo lets out a bark of laughter. _Finally_ a situation the both of us are born to deal with, no matter what training we've had, no matter where we've lived, no matter what lives we've had.

"Oh, my dear, I assure you," Leo takes a step forward, and suddenly he's behind the woman, whispering in her ear, "We're here to destroy all that you believe."

He knocks her upside the head, knocking her unconscious instantly. And as he does, Gally throws his knife right at Thomas. But Chucky dives in front of it and I spin around, throwing out my hand with fingers spread wide. The knife stops in mid-air, less than an inch from Chucky's chest.

Everything goes still, silent. But it's a new kind this time. It's not the distance I've always felt before at the end of a fight. There's none of that today. My heart does stop, my breath doesn't still. Instead, my heart pounds, and I feel more alive than I ever have when facing danger. I feel _alive_ instead of just active.

"Leo," I say, breaking the silence, breaking the pause. "What's the one thing scientists hate more than anything?"

He has Gally restrained now, and his mad grin is brilliant and thrilling. "Magic," he answers. It's like a switch is flipped, like something snaps, and the both of us are in motion. I bring my arm up as I turn and then throw it forward again, and the knife soars through the air and into one of the glass windows, shattering it. The knife sticks right in the shoulder of the woman behind it, pinning her to her chair. Leo's in motion in the same instant, taking a Glader's club with barbed wire wrapped around the end and swinging it fast and hard at the closest window to him, and in the same instant that my window shatters, his does too. And then all the Gladers are moving, breaking the windows, taking down the scientists behind them, the people who did this to them, who stole away their memories and put them in the Maze simply for their own entertainment. Leo and I start the war cries, but the Gladers quickly and eagerly echo them and the air is alive, charged with their energy, and it hurts my heart with how amazing it feels and I laugh in between war cries because this is no longer just fighting. This is freedom. Saving those I love and those I've sworn to protect. We won. In the face of everything scientific and normal, _insanity has won_!

Gunshots start going off, and they're not ours. Gladers scramble to group together again, me and Leo joining them because above all else anymore, we are Gladers now. Nothing else matters. Not the desert warrior that I was made to be, not the inventor that Leo has always been. All that matters right now is that we are Gladers.

"Oh goody, more grown-ups," Leo comments once the gunshots stop.

"Don't worry, kids," one of them says. "We're the good guys."

Leo steps closer to that one, sniffing as if he's the animal between us. I have to press my lips together to keep from laughing. Then Leo says, "Are you? Because I still smell normal on you." And I burst out laughing.

"Come on," another of the grown-ups, a woman, says. "Let's get you guys out of here."

"Ah, now that, I can agree with," Leo grins.

In seconds, we're outside, and outside, here, it's not desert. "Oh my gods," I almost whimper, my hand falling out of Newt's grip as I wander away from him a few steps, closing my eyes as I turn my face up to the sky. It's raining. Thunder echoes in the sky and the clouds are almost black, but rain is pouring down them. I haven't felt rain on my skin since I was a little girl in the forest.

"VICTORY TO THE INSANE!" Leo screams into the sky, trigging a round of victory cries from the Gladers. I can't help but laugh, even as I realize tears are falling down my cheeks. I never thought of the Glade as a prison. It was the first time in years that I was able to walk among trees and feel grass on my bare feet. But still, this is a moment of freedom for me just as much as it is for the Gladers. Because this means, I am officially no longer a desert warrior. Not if I don't want to be. Now, I can go and do whatever I want.

Arms wrap around me and I open my eyes to look up at Newt. He's just as soaked with rain as I am. It's holding our clothes right against our skin and dripping from our hair.

"What happens now?" he asks me, having to raise his voice over the pounding rain.

I smile, wiping at my cheeks because somewhere among the drops of rain, there are tears too, even if Newt can't see them. "Doesn't matter. You're not getting rid of me anymore."

"Good," he smiles, every bit happy, in his smile and in his eyes, and he kisses me.


End file.
